A Bunch of Professional Gamers
by xAgentsheepx
Summary: Okay, you're going to shove me into this new world? Jokes on you, sucker. I've played this game for years. A real life experience is nothing new. I like to think myself as a professional at this. Every aspect and every detail you just thought of, I already know it. Of course maybe starting off as a newborn baby and this girl who think's I'm a trampoline might be an issue...
1. Chapter 1: Greetings Little Girl!

**AN: I found an old story I had written a while back and was not sure what to do with it. I've decided why not just post it? There are other chapters but like this one, if I am going to post them, they need to be fixed a bit. Of course, I am not the best person the revise and edit stories so more than just a few mistakes will slip past me.**

 **The main character's name in his modern life will not be revealed. As for whether or not this is a reincarnation story will be unconfirmed to you and will be explained later. Nothing much to say besides I'll try to get a few of the other chapters out. Reviews are a nice thing too by the way!**

* * *

Professional people are very intimidating. Normally, they exceed your skill in whatever field it is they work in. It's threatening, the fact that someone out there could surpass another so easily. It is something to really focus on and maybe even utilized to motivate one's self. Use your ambition like this and you just might become one of the best at your craft.

Now let's look at the professional. Peer closely and you will realize that most of them excel so much due to the fact that they enjoy what they do. It's not as easy as you'd think. Finding what you love out of all the other options in the world can be tedious. Now after finding your dream, there is another thing to keep in mind of: Don't be a lazy ass. How does one expect to get better if you simply do not try to do so? A person can love the idea of losing weight but they never want to go out there and run.

Of course, look at a lot of the gamers out there. Championships and massive tournaments done solely on a computer screen or console are pretty big for some of those people. They are what most would label a professional. How could you not? They're meant to be the best of the entire populace. That's why they're competing in the first place. It's pretty simple, this labeling system. Those playing in the big leagues are meant for it and those who fail to do so simply do not fit into such things.

Now here's something _you_ my friend should listen to very closely. It may be Minecraft but it's something a great number of people take very seriously. The amount of time spent in front of the damn screen worries even me, but I do not care enough to really act upon it. I know this game inside and out, every lick and detail. Every update is studied heavily with scrutiny and every occasion to get on is a chance to experiment. I wasn't the only one with this mindset. There are hundreds, hell even thousands with this mindset.

It's not surprising a great number of us decided to band together. The inability for most players you meet to simply play the game right irritates most of us. There are those who are filled to the brim with patience, but in the end, they prefer those who understood each other any day. Welcome to the Willenskraft. That's German for will power I believe. The owner really never explained it to me but I overheard him chatting on what of the party calls that he chose it more for the ending which was coincidently "kraft". A lot of the players who joined took it the wrong way and thought his name was Willens in real life of course.

Logging on today was not really what I was expecting. There were around couple hundred players? That was a really low considering that this server was around the five hundred count. The only issue is that the moment I logged in, the chat located near the left bottom corner decided to have what looked like a mini volcanic eruption of death messages. I could barely get a glimpse but it looked like it was just going down the list of players logged in. Even staff who were normally in a game mode where normal entities could not harm them (it was to complete server tasks such as maintenance and what not) were caught in death parade.

Then instantly, my character died.

"Oh, you're shitting me sideways…" I grumbled as I noticed the re-spawn button was dulled out. The only answer was a hacker. I'd voiced by concern with _Willens_ as we all called him more as a joke a few months back and was assured that there had been enough safety nets and defenses installed to keep the server protected from any major server breaking hacks. A few I knew on the staff had even said some dumb ass attempted to DDOS the server. Apparently, Willenskraft barely felt it.

Discord was a very nice thing for gamers. It was a simpler way to have a voice chat with people you wanted to. It was a nice alternative to Skype and Team Speak. I was not surprised when half the staff team was inside a chat. For me, I was one of the older players on the server. If you didn't even recognize my username, then you were obviously a very fresh person to the server community.

Joining in, I was hit with a barrage of numerous voices practically yelling over each other. A moment later, I left the channel and hopped into another that wasn't as occupied. Staff really didn't need me on the job. Connected to the channel that wasn't me was another familiar username.

"Welcome to my lonely channel, Dauntless," he said. I smirked at the slightly older guy and flipped on the microphone next to me.

"I'm pretty sure that this is called Lounge 7 and not WeedleBeatle's Crap Hole," I shot back. WeedleBeatle or just Beatle as most people called him was another long time player. I'd probably joined a mere week before he did. Safe to say both of us were damn good players. Maybe I was not as experienced in player versus player or PVP combat but we both knew the game well enough to understand what each of us were doing.

"So you got hacked too?" Beatle asked.

"Everyone online died. I'm pretty sure the ass got the server and not every individual player"

"Yeesh, I though Willens said we were safe from this crap," Beatle grunted before a ding rang through the discord channel, signifying another person had joined. I checked the tab and found that one of the staff had switched over to join us.

"You boys enjoying yourself without me?" Flow purred. She was actually really just Flower_Power followed by some random numbers but I never really bothered. She showed up in chat as merely Flow.

"Not much to enjoy when you favorite server is down. What's going on? I thought Willens had thing in place to stop crap like this from happening," I stated, leaning back in my chair. I watched as the text chat on the right side flew up in ridiculous speed as people from the server asked what was going on. It had gotten to the point the channel most of the staff were in locked so only those with permission could connect.

"Hey, we're all as surprised as you were. Console doesn't even show anything being run. Just a sudden stream of death's," she replied. I could almost imagine her holding up her hands defensively. "If it helps, we can reset the server to restore all items lost."

Items were dropped on death here. Some servers ran with a game setting called Keep_Inventory set on true, meaning you would lose nothing on death. If you knew how to play the game, you had no need for such cheap things. Of course, items would de-spawn after a few minutes. I was sure by the time this mess gets fixed, that it would all be gone.

"What about this re-spawn thing? Any idea what's going on with that?" Beatle inquired. I glanced at my own dulled re-spawn button in dismay. I'd never seen a hack go this far before.

"We've got nothing on that either. This is all pretty new to us. Even our older staffs who've dealt with server wide hacks before say they haven't seen anything like it. There's no trace of whatever caused this."

"Well shit," I said plainly. I heard Flow sigh and disconnecting to rejoin the staff channel. Beatle then went silent for a few seconds before I heard him cough in surprise as if he had been drinking something. "You choking on your spit again?"

"No you dumb ass. Look at your screen!"

"Okay, fine…" I mumbled before pulling my Minecraft window back up. The surprising issue was though, the death screen had changed. There was normally a large text stating "You Died" and your score beneath it. Then there would be two clickable buttons. One would be Title Screen and the other re-spawn. When the hack had gone through, the re-spawn was dulled out and no longer clickable. Now, the re-spawn button was as it was supposed to be. Except this time, the Title Screen option just wasn't there. It was gone.

"You see it?"

"Yeah… did this just appear?"

"Don't know. I wasn't really paying attention," Beatle said "Shall I click on it?"

"I don't see why not. I guess maybe the problem is being fixed by the staff. I'll see you on the server," I stated. Suddenly, Beatle disconnected from the channel. Had he thought I meant I was going to leave the discord channel to hop back into the game?

I grabbed the small mouse to my right and brought the cursor over the button. It was a simple choice really. Just click the re-spawn option and your player will re-spawn back into the world. It was nothing new.

 _Click!_

And all hell broke loose.

* * *

…Drowning…

That's what I felt like. It felt like I was in an infinite pool of water. No that wasn't right. It was as if I were at the bottom of the ocean. You could kick, scream, and do all you wanted but you would never be able to swim back to the top. I could not see a single thing. I felt oddly as if I were feeling what a blind man did. My screams fell on deaf ears, those being mine. I could not hear a thing. Everything had a slight tinge of numbness and I had a horrible feeling.

Did I just have a stroke or something? Was it a Seizure? I was not an expert in the medical field. I was just a mere young gamer.

Then, like Jesus was descending from heaven to greet me, a light shown from up above and I could see. I looked up and the cold feeling etched all over me began to drain out. It was then that I decided that it would be best to reach this light. I swam and kicked up closer to the light in this infinite water until the cold was replaced by warmth. That warmth turned to heat which began to burn painfully.

When I registered the pain through my numb body I attempted to go back down; anything to get away from the pain. I wasn't exactly someone who was used to getting hurt. Sure I had played some sports but I was more of a home body. That was beside the point. The point was, the light actually _hurt_. Swimming away seemed to lessen the pain up to the point I began to float back up closer on my own. It was like that damn tractor beam from that Star Wars movie.

Have you ever eaten something hotter than you expected and it burnt your tongue? Remember how your tongue would feel a pulsating numbness on your taste buds. Imagine that all over you in every single exposed part of your body and multiply it. I screamed in silent pain as I drew closer, thrashing in the water until I was before the scorching light. I should've probably have gone blind.

Just like that I made contact and the entire blackness around me was blasted into oblivion with a white glorious light.

For a moment, I could not even think. My mind had gone numb alongside the other sensory aspects of the human body. It was a strange feeling as the pain washed away and was soon forgotten. When you're numb, it's like your floating… and maybe falling. It was frightening at first, this feeling. It was so foreign. I had experienced a numbed limb when I had rested my head on top of my arms every once in a while. That was nothing compared to what I felt now. It was almost peaceful.

Peaceful?

Was I dead?

No…

No…

NO…

 **NO…**

My vision began to clear slightly, the white diminishing into more specific colors. What I could clearly see and pick out were the colors of green. The second color that I noticed was blue. It was a pretty blue, one that I felt oddly affectionate towards. Like how I felt now, the colors around me felt peaceful. There were no ugly colors on the opposite ends of the color wheel clashing against each other.

I began to make out objects now. The green were surrounding what I could make out as a bright brown color. They were trees and these trees loomed over me as I lay in something I could not recognize. Not yet anyways. The blue was obviously the sky and what little of the white in my vision formed into the clouds floating above.

I could breathe perfectly now. My heart was no longer racing and I could begin to feel my surroundings. The only thing was I could not move. Perhaps my body was not yet in control of itself yet. Waiting a bit would be the perfect thing to do. It gave me time to think. Now what exactly happened?

I was in my room in front of my computer and now I am lying somewhere outside paralyzed with no memory of any of it. Had someone drugged me? If so, what had I consumed that they could've drugged? I doubt they used anything as advanced as a dart gun or somehow used a needle without me noticing. Maybe they used gas? Who the hell would even go as far as to use gas on me? It makes no sense, what could I possibly have to offer?

Was it possible that everything around me is nothing more than an illusion? Maybe I was still sprawled on the ground in my room, glaring into the ceiling with my tongue lolled out. That was not a pleasant thought. If I didn't come down for dinner, my family would come up and see me. I wonder if they would think that I was high on drugs… That's an amusing thought actually.

I was startled when a head loomed over mine. At first, the details were blurry until my eyes were able to focus on the features. The woman above me looked down at me with a soft smile. She had dark hair almost pitch black but it had a certain shine to it that really stood out. I found no blemishes upon her face, no moles, no scars, and no pimples even. Then a second person appeared beside her.

This one was a male. This one was tall and looked even intimidating. Wide shoulders and a decent body proportion really brought out his physique. Dirty brown hair layered over his forehead as his eyes bore down on me intently. Even with the fierceness behind the man, I still found a goofy smile etched upon his face.

What? Do I have something on my face?

"Oh, you must be tired already. Mommy has you," the woman said. I was about to attempt to fling a few insults at her along the line of asking someone to give her a reality check but was promptly surprised when she _picked_ me up and held me in her arms as if I were a little child. "Shhhh…"

I heard the wailing of a little child but I could barely tell where it originated from. It sounded almost as if…. It came from me. When I tried to move, I realized I could not. It was not due to the fact that I was still not in control of my body but more so because I was wrapped tightly in something that prohibited just about all movement.

This frightened me… and the wailing grew louder.

The mother stood up, a worried frown on her face as she could not understand why her baby was crying… why _I myself_ was crying. Neither did I to be honest and I really did not care. What was more important to me was the fact that I was now a miniature little useless thing wrapped in the arms of this woman.

My heart tightened when I realized something. I had heard a few friends talk about some of the different religious beliefs on what was to come after death. One had to do with reincarnation. What really struck me as the most likely was that I had died… except I died right when I had clicked re-spawn. Beatle had suddenly disconnected when he did so as well.

"Here, I have an idea. Let me see that mirror, Hun?" the man requested. I saw the woman pass over what was obviously a mirror to the man who then brought it close to me. It was there I got a good look at myself. The crying stop as the fear and confusion racing through me momentarily halted as I got a good look at myself. Of all things I could've thought, I am ashamed to have mentally commented on what I did.

I am one hellishly chubby baby…

"See?" the man chuckled over to the smiling woman… or now my mother. Who else would she be? I do not believe it is common for someone to pick up newborns off of the grass and care for them as your own almost instantaneously.

"How'd you know that would work?" she breathed, rocking me slightly. It was unusually comforting hearing her voice. I heard newborns were naturally bonded to their mothers at birth.

"I remember seeing a few creatures having a blast when they see their reflection. I just thought maybe Tusk would react the same way"

"You did not just compare our baby boy to _animals_ , Jerry," my new mother shot playfully. They both chuckled to themselves while continuing to stare at me. I really wished I had the ability to speak; to tell them that there was intelligence under all the blubber and baby fat. Sadly, my vocals were nowhere near developed and wouldn't be for quite a while.

For now I was stuck here and had to humor the couple until I became a more capable creature. Until then, it was best I try and learn my location. I had to be in America still. They spoke English fluently but the accent was off. I didn't recognize it from anywhere. At first I thought it was southern but the tone was different from the casual southern citizen.

I could think about that later when I was in a better position and not wrapped up in silk blankets. The… slightly stupid but effective method used by this _Jerry_ figure who I also guess is my new father worked to calm my nerves slightly. If I want to assess the situation, I must keep a level head. Nothing will get done if I panic like a fool. For now, I must sleep. I can feel this body grow drowsy. Likely a common thing when you're a newborn of course.

* * *

I feel quite accomplished for the amount of things I had learned in three days. The fact that I was stuck in a wooden crib most of the time when I wasn't be held by someone made it quite difficult, but it gave me much time to ponder my situation. Trust me, there was indeed much to _ponder_ or more so scrutinize.

My given name is Tusk and my so called birth parents are Jerry and Teresa. They lived on the outskirts of what I heard was the Alkaline Kingdom. If I remember correctly, Alkaline was an element and kingdoms weren't very common at this day of age. So I had to be somewhere very remote from modern civilization. What supported this fact was the lack of recognizable technology… or any tech as a matter of fact. Imagine my surprise when I found Jerry to be using a torch and not a flashlight. I was unable to learn of any family lineage but that could come later.

From the snippets of conversations I could overhear, it was obvious to me that this area was very under developed. When I had been taken out of the house once, it became apparent that this couple lived in more of a small village. Dirt paths replaced the pavement I was used to seeing and brick houses with wooden and stone structures. There was a stable I could pick out and even a blacksmith's forge near the edge of the town where smoke fumed out the chimney.

Our own house wasn't really anything special. It included two small rooms, one with an old bed and a crib for me and the other with a table and other such living instruments such as cooking utensils. The roof was made of more wood than anything and a large wooden support beam that annoyed me a tab bit by the mold growing at the base held it up in the center of each room. A few lamps hung from a post here and there and there was a few windows built into each side of the household.

There were no maps in the house I could catch a glimpse of when I was carried around. I doubt there would be either. My new parents did not look like the travelling type.

Speaking of parents, what about my own? By my own parents, I mean my first. By now, they should've found my deceased body in my room… if I had died at all. For all I knew, this was just my conscious being forced into another vessel, putting my own in a catatonic state. If that were the case, I needed to get back quick. I know what happens when the pay for life support becomes too great.

How would I get back either way? I was still a small child and I would have to age until I was old enough to travel. Even then, I would have to find a way back. This place seemed as if it was cut off from the world. With no airlines or transportation, how would I get back? Even if I did somehow manage to get back, how would they react? A random boy comes up claiming to be your son would seem more of a disgusting insult more than anything else. What if I never get back home? I might be doomed to these lands for the rest of my days… or the new days I have been given.

That was a very disturbing thought.

What also disturbed me… what that stress and worry seemed to leave me the moment I felt it. No normal person could go through what I was and be as calm as I could. Something was _wrong_ with me. I did not feel nearly as much fear as I should. I wouldn't say there wasn't any at all, but it was comparable to a dimmed light. Maybe it was the fact that I was an entire life of one person stuffed into a foreign body. Had this brain been unprepared for the memory and… damaged itself? I had the brain of a child working over-drive to think through everything. Maybe as time went on, these emotions would come back to me.

To be frank, I appreciated the calm mindset. It allowed me to think things through better either way. So one step at a time, I'd keep things going. First would be getting a map. This map would likely give me a general idea of the land. I need to study it very closely and try to see if any shapes are the same as those on the map offered by the modern world. If I could find a similarity, I could possibly mark a way home. After that, getting to that point would be the next step.

Air transportation was an obvious no go. These people look like they just barely got a grasp of science. I'd seen horses pulling wagons on several occasions. If I were to travel like that, it might take months, even a year to get to where I needed to go. Despite that, I would be willing to do it. It couldn't be that much different than waiting to merely _age_ out of this useless body of mine and into someone who could actually work independently.

If I were to leave, that would also mean leaving behind this new family of mine…

They're a nice couple by all means. They're sweet, kind, caring, and seem to be very competent people. I would think they'd deserve better than a child who would just grow up to run off somewhere. I regret deciding to do this, but I must. Even if this goal might take decades even. It was not their fault another conscious had been shoved into the mind of their baby boy. They called me Tusk and honestly hearing that makes me shiver.

I was not familiar with reincarnation as much as others. I wasn't really sure if this was actually reincarnation in the first place. Had I been born into this body or had I hijacked it? The idea of shoving out another conscious, despite being heavily… childish, was a very disagreeable with me. It makes me feel as if I had maybe killed their baby.

I need to return to the matter at hand. To travel I would need supplies. That meant food, water, equipment for first aid if that was even a thing here, a wagon and horse to transport me across the lands, and maybe even a guide. Shit, that was a lot to get as I am now. Even later, it would likely be a challenge. I would need to be able to pay for the supplies and that would require a job. A job would require apprenticeship in some sort of practice which lasted years. I was born into this world with absolutely _nothing_ on my per-

A white box suddenly appears in front of me, making me baby cough suddenly in surprise. My… mother I guess glanced over to me in worry and approached the crib. I saw her hand reach over and pass right _through_ the floating white geometric plane and rub my back affectionately. I appreciated the rub, but the thing in front of me right was the immediate concern.

There was a familiar two by two box in the upper right hand corner with a grey arrow on the right side pointing towards another box. The major portion of the box was filled with a, yet again, familiar four rows of grey boxes, nine in each. The bottom had a slight indention between eh one above and there were four more boxes in the top right hand corner with a blacked section where I could see myself clearly. Next to my reflective image on the right was the last box with an image similar to a shield.

 _I am one fat looking baby…_

The words above the two by two boxes were very clear: _Crafting_

This was a fucking Minecraft inventory, something only seen in a digital video game. This was _not_ something seen in the real world. Had my rebirth had some other side effects such as hallucination?

Either way, I found this… amusing? My mind must really be jacked up. Well what really caught my attention at first was the diaper in the leggings slot. It makes sense seeing as that was the only article of clothing I was equipped with, but just looking at it made me want to chuckle. The second thing I saw was that a health bar and a hunger bar had appeared hovering in the air around me. Unconsciously, I grabbed it… and moved it to the right.

 _Interesting_ …

I then grabbed my inventory and shoved it to the left so that neither was in my way in terms of vision. It's not like they blocked off anything on my sides. They were heavily translucent, but it would be very distracting having it in your face all day. Of course there was also something else I decided to test, something which I would use to confirm whether or not my head was really in a bad shape.

My mother was very confused by my seemingly random hand motions. She of course decided it was nothing more than a baby deciding to explore its surroundings a bit. When Jerry called, she hurried off after giving a quick peck on my head which I unconsciously smiled on the inside to. It was not my fault that every person desired to be loved. A minute later and she had left the bedroom to join Jerry in the main room where he was requesting help with something.

Next to me was a small doll made poorly from stitches and yarn. A pair of buttons was strewn to the head with a large creepy smile plastered across the face. I grabbed it and held the object in my hands as fast as a baby could achieve in terms of speed. Just like that, an image of the doll appeared in my "hot-bar" which I had moved off to my right. So far, this could've all been a figment of my imagination… if all this reincarnation mess wasn't.

So then how would I put this item into my… inventory?

With a pop, the doll flickered in a blue flicker and it was gone. I glanced up and saw that the doll had been placed into the top bar of my inventory. I had not said anything or even moved my hands. The realization hit me and I wished I had the ability to slap my forehead without looking like I was yanking an invisible string up. It was all connecting through my mental state. It all made sense now, especially why this menu had appeared. I had been thinking of the possessions I had on me and it must've brought forth a list of items I had on me… nothing but a diaper.

Though if I can mentally move items around in my inventory does that mean I can equip and re-equip my attire at will?

* _flash!*_

A soft breeze around my nether regions made me frown. So I could take things off at will… how would I equip two articles of clothing in the same slot then? A sock under a boot or trousers under my pants were things I would normally choose to wear. Unfortunately I did not have any other clothes in my possession. That was something I would experiment with later on. Putting my… diaper back on, I found another idea come to mind: crafting.

This was _real._ I could manipulate a game inventory, practically breaking the laws of physics. If I had the ability to do so, then could I take a simple stick and two bars of iron and just yank a sword out? If that was true, things would be so much easier for me. Except what about items which were foreign to the game? Take a barrel for example. There was no such thing that could be made in the plain Minecraft. Would I be unable to make such things as a barrel or would a more… improvised recipe be formed?

Crafting was a very simple thing in game. Each creatable item had what most called a recipe. You would normally make these items at a workbench which would provide a three by three box menu in substitution for the two by two found in your own inventory. With this, you were allowed more complex recipes. Each one had specific items which would then be arranged in a certain way. A shovel would be two sticks, one on top the other and the type of material you wanted the head to be made out of on top. A bucket would simply be three iron bars or ingots placed in a V shape. Now say a barrel, which was never added into the game and therefore has no recipe was to be given a recipe by whatever the hell mystical power had reincarnated me with the powers of a _game._ I would not know this recipe. Would I be forced to then experiment in a workbench until I randomly chanced upon it?

I was surprised when Teresa suddenly picked me up.

I am unsure how to identify my new parents. Should I call them by their names or Mother and Father? It did not seem right with there already being a set of parents for me out there already.

"Ooh, you're so heavy," Teresa teased as he brought me to her chest and carried me to the other room where Jerry was waiting. He was already dressed in clothing that… appeared to be much cleaner and well kept then his usual attire. He had his boots on and a worn hat resting over his head. He put an arm around his wife and the kissed quickly. "We're all ready. You ready for your first church sermon, Tusk?"

They had a church in this place? Well it was a pretty decently sized village with a nice population. The religious beliefs of this place were actually something that would be pretty interesting to me. It might be a chance to learn a bit more of the culture in the surrounding area. Who was I to complain?

* * *

It seems that any children who still required the assistance of parents every few minutes such as newborns were taken care of what appeared to be modern day nuns. They had the black and white silky robes over themselves and kept their demeanor in a very calm way. A number of them were to take care of the children while the _adults_ attended the sermon. Of course, that meant this entire thing was of no use to me and I was just wasting time… or was I?

They kept us in a room in the back of the large church where it looked like young toddlers were normally kept. There were a number of dolls and toys lying around, some being chewed on already by the youngsters. I grimaced at the sight of the shiny slobber sliding down on a wooden block. That child would get splinters at this rate. I was lying in a crib of course, most muscles not fully developed so that I could even crawl. Sure I could turn my head a bit but… it was quite difficult.

I wasn't three days old though. I had merely become conscious within this body three days ago. If I had heard Teresa correctly in one of her many hushed conversations, I was nearly four months by now? I'd been told once that an average baby learns to crawl at around six months. Maybe with gained intelligence, I can start crawling sooner than later.

A small tap on my head brought my attention over to what I noticed was… another child. A small baby girl who looked like she was still struggling with mobility peered down at my eyes. I merely glared at her with one thought in my mind that I furiously transmitted through my eyes: Do not drool on me…

You…

Will…

Not!

The girl instead did something else I would've rather avoided. She just suddenly _dropped_ on top of me and giggled madly as I began to flail my arms and legs underneath her weight. The evil bastard! The nuns nearby watched in silent amusement as I continued my battle for freedom. The helpful lot they were…


	2. Chapter 2: Go Away Little Girl!

**AN:** The first few chapters will be covering periods of the main character's youth. That means there will be jumps by the years for now. There's really not much I can make him do as a three year old. Do you think it would seem right to make a little boy fight off a horde of abominations? Not really. I do think I might've gone too far with the humor on this one so my bad, but as I said before this is an old story I found and I am revising it as of now to publish the already written chapters. Whether or not I continue to write it is up for debate on my part and I wanted to get you guys these chapters.

Please keep in mind this is an old story and I am just revising it so mistakes will slip past me due to the fact I am not the best editor in the world...

* * *

[Age: 3]

Delilah was her name. That was the name of the girl who had decided it would be a damn smart idea to just crawl over and hulk smash on top of me three years ago. Now ever since that meeting… the girl seemed keen on sticking around with me. She might be one of the more unusual three year olds in the village but she was better company than I realized. Actually, I could even say I enjoyed it a bit.

Today, I was out in the backyard of the church. The only time I really ever saw her was when a young couple brought her along to listen to the sermon. This couple stood out from the others and not in a way I liked. They seemed to walk with pride, a lot of pride. Whenever I heard them talk around me, they sounded very snobbish. They dressed in a more flashy way than anyone else in the village and it wasn't until I heard someone address them by their title that I realized they were from high lineage.

Lord and Lady Corchet were the parents of Delilah Corchet and were also the ruling family of the territory I lived in as of now.

Delilah didn't act very snobbish though that was probably only because she was three. The only reason they went into town was to uphold their image of devout followers of their belief. I suspect that it was just an image and nothing else. Despite the very disagreeable background, Delilah was very enjoyable company.

Just about every Sunday it was just me roaming around and sneaking away from the nuns or entertaining Delilah. On one occasion, I got my hands on a small journal. It was written by a very old traveler who had come by years ago and left it behind by accident. The writing was very poor in terms of quality but it was still distinguishable. I decided to read it to her. With prior knowledge came very quick growth in speech and language in this body. I was one of the earliest in the village to begin speaking. It was more to do with I already knew how but the body was just unprepared. I had originally planned on trying to convince my parents of my previous existence… but decided not to. Who would believe me anyways?

Delilah was right now a small frilly girl with a very dramatic dress. I could tell she disliked it but her parents or servants had likely forced her into the gown. Her speech… could be better but she was decent at listening. With the exception of being unfamiliar with the higher level vocabulary, she was actually more advanced than most others in the village. Not all of them would become educated and learn to read.

Of course Delilah was born from a high society. She would be expected to learn many things, but not at the rate of an average modern day human being. She would likely finish learning to write perfectly at the age of… ten possibly. There were no public school systems, at least none in this village. I had yet to gather details on neighboring kingdoms and how they operated.

Of course that would all change in a bit. As a three year old, it was very hard getting your hands on things. My parents believed that I was trying to make a mess of things and just being a child whenever I tried to obtain things such as books or maps. Because of that, they were very hesitant about letting me look at anything. Honestly, all they were doing was hindering my learning. In the end, I had to secretly get my hands on a map of the region which I then began to study.

As far as I knew, this map was very unreliable and made by some half drunken explorer looking to make a name for himself as a cartographer. The only issue was that I had nothing else to go on. I got my hands on a "world map" or their version of the entire world. This entire place was a large island… or more a continent. I could not really be sure. This place could be the size of Australia or as small as Sri Lanka for all I knew. There were no scales that told me of how to gauge the size of the place.

What I could do instead was scale the region map to the so called world map of theirs to get a basic idea of how big the place was. The only issue was that the region map showed a landlocked area. There was no shoreline to identify so I then had to rely on the settlements marked on the map such as trading posts and small towns. Then the problem of the world map creators not feeling the need to mark every single trading post and small village came up. There were large cities and castles but none could be found in the regional map… which was when I began to worry. There were quite a lot of large cities and kingdoms in the world map. If an entire regional map could be fitted into the map and not include any then the sheer magnitude of the island size was incredible. No, this might not even be an island. It might be a continent. Could it be the size of Australia? There's no way modern society would miss such a landmass of that caliber.

"Tush!" Delilah suddenly exclaimed from behind me. A moment later, I felt the small body crash down upon me, my face planting into the map I had been examining on the grass. The little girl was still struggling in speech and referred to me as _Tush_ rather than _Tusk_. "Whatdya doin' Tush?!"

"I'm _learning_ ," I grunted under her weight with my mouth half filled with soil and grass. She shifted herself so she was sitting on my back like a horse mount and huffed.

 _My spine you damn monster! I'm going to be handicapped for the rest of my life!_

"Yer so boorin'! Why is Tush no fun?!" she whined. The name Tush ironically reminded me of a persons bum. It was weird hearing her call me that.

"It's _boring_ , Delilah. Boorin' is not a word," I corrected her. She, in spitefulness, shifted over and rested her arms on top of my head with her own chin perched up top so she could peer at the map from above. "If you want something to do, go annoy the other kids."

"Tush use big words…"

"Go hang out with the other children. Go make friends!" I chided her from below.

"Hang… why Tush want me to hang on others?"

"No… it's a figure of-… okay, I give in! What do you want from me?"

"Play!" she cheered happily.

"Play what? If its dolls and dress- up, then I will have to refuse," I stated simply while folding the maps next to me up into a small package. I pretended to slide the map into my back pocket but in reality, the moment it was out of here sight I vanished it into my inventory. The image of a map simply popped into one of the many slots in the inventory menu still left open to float on my right. The three year old girl of course did not notice.

"Dolly!" she said, whipping out two sets of stuffed dolls from whom the hell knows where.

"Okay, what did I just say?!"

"That you'd do what I wanted!" she giggled before wrapping my neck in a choking hug. I gurgled for air while reaching out towards the sky as she practically ragdoll dragged me away. After losing a considerable amount of baby fat, I had become dramatically lighter in terms of weight. That meant a small three year old girl like Delilah could now drag me around once she was able to get a hold on me.

"Delilah!" I heard a horrified shriek. Ho boy, here we go.

Lady Corchet stomped over in her dramatically large dress and snatched her daughter off of me in rage. Delilah flailed in surprise, and fear, as her mother began to spout what was a mostly unintelligible slur at me. It was something along to lines of me being a plebian and trying to get a portion of their family fortune. To be honest, I'm a three year old. The fact that you fill so threatened that you will tell someone who likely doesn't even know the definition of a plebian that they're a _plebian_ is just…

It doesn't even make me feel offended. It just confuses me. It doesn't even follow basic human standards. If I were a normal child, I wouldn't even have the mental capacity o fully understand what the hell a plebian was… I actually currently am unaware of the definition as well.

I would have to look that up later.

On the matter at hand, Lady Corchet decided she had wasted enough breath and was now carrying Delilah away towards a carriage waiting for the royals. I smirked when Delilah peeped out from her mother's grasp and waved wildly to me before her mother began an enraged tirade.

"Bye Tush!" She was indeed quite the peculiar little girl. Hopefully, I could keep her from going down the same paths as her parents.

My mother, who I decided calling Teresa would get old and awkward soon, found me soon after. It seemed the sermon had ended already and had just come to get me. This had been the routine for Sundays for the last three years. I don't believe they would actually have me attend the service itself until I was around seven. Why that was, I did not know. Wouldn't they want children to participate as early as possible to maximize the chances of forming another devout follower?

Father was waiting for us near the front of the church with a small basket resting near his feet.

"What's that?" I asked when he hefted the container into the air and over his shoulders.

"The apple orchard had a few extra's leftover from the last export so the caretaker gave us a few. Sweetie, tell Caretaker Jokolt thank you next time you see him," Mother chided softly as we began are trek back to our home.

"Yes Mother," I replied plainly. She frowned once again at my manners. She hadn't expected me to become so exemplary at communication this early in my life so it was to be expected. I guessed she would think nothing of it later on as I continued to grow up. Whatever she thought of me now, she definitely knew I was a level more advanced than the average three year old child.

As a matter of fact, I have been studying a great many things. While I didn't get much on the neighboring kingdoms as I had said before, I did get quite a number of details on the kingdom of Alkaline. First a foremost, it was ruled by King Hudner. He was married to Queen Alshi and had four children. They had three daughters and stopped when Queen Alshi finally bore a son and heir to the throne. Of course, their daughters would not be allowed to rule. Most likely, they would be married off to some other high standing country to signify an alliance of sorts.

Alkaline was indeed one of the more larger and prominent in terms of size and power, but from the current diplomatic tensions I had heard from passing traders, Alkaline only stood at third place in terms of the most powerful. This then put the question into my mind: Who were the top two ranking kingdoms?

When studying the world map, Alkaline was a located at the south eastern border of the continent or what I was going to identify as a continent for now. If there were multiple kingdoms of great power, they probably wouldn't all fit into something the size of Hawaii now would they? Alkaline had the ocean shore bordering on the south side, giving way for the creation of trade cities which depended on travel by sea. Of course there were more than just a few rivers running through the land, but they were all spread out so sparsely that the people had to rely on the small number of lakes for freshwater.

Oh by the way, it seems Alkaline wasn't an element. It was a group… or family. I can't really remember which one.

Other prominent kingdom's that I could identify by looking at the world map were the Kingdom of Lanthanide, Actinide, and Alkali. Each took a great portion of the map, but what stood out was a large region in the north-western that was dulled out. Stated in what was a crude attempt at bold letterings was written as the following: _Deadlands…_

Whatever that was, it intrigued me. Was it a land filled with lawlessness and banditry, or was there something worse that residing in those lands? Could a plague only held back by a shoddy attempt by the Alkali kingdom too quarantine the disease ravage the lands? Whatever it was, it was named Deadlands to keep people out.

The culture of these lands was very similar to what one mind imagines a medieval kingdom would be like in ancient Europe. I saw a company or swordsmen marching in the fields once. The banner was a distinct yellow curtain with the figure of a dragon sown into the silk. This was the banner of the Corchet Knight Legion. They answered directly to Corchet, even before the Alkaline King himself. Lord Corchet ruled this territory within the Alkaline realm. It seemed to be that the King put others in charge of his vast territory. It was useful in terms of efficiency but the chance of corruption was high and one of the lords could easily make a power grab and dethrone the current acting king.

As for the town I currently reside in, it nice place was named Korcha. The town was founded by simple hunters who later brought in their families while they hunted the game in a nearby forest. At some point, a deposit of iron was located and a new source of income was found. The mine was long since abandoned as the town soon turned to trade. With so many other towns producing much higher quality ore for a cheaper price, it was not worth the effort. Instead, the town traded goods. With these goods, they traded them for other things in a continuous cycle. At some point, raw material would be used by the nearby carpenter of blacksmith to produce a sort of product to be sold for gold and silver coins which could buy more products from traders. It was simple business but I found the fact that there was an abandoned iron mine nearby to be very important.

It was time to talk about this new power of mine. I had yet to test the crafting and mining ability. In the game, you would start out with nothing in game so you would need to produce a tool to harvest better materials. The cheapest was wood and to do that, you would normally need to chop down a tree. In the game, your fists were coded to be enough to take down a tree. Now this world was obviously the real world. I had yet to go out and just strike the first tree I came across so I did not know if this detail affected me.

Then there came crafting. I could possibly bypass a lot of the work needed to create much of the tedious materials real world people are forced to do in order to create equipment. In game, you need only the materials and a three by three box and you could make practically anything you wanted. A few bars of metal and you could just slap a helmet together without a metal forge or training in ironworks. If this new power of mine enabled me to do so, then this was something extremely broken.

Alongside crafting there were other aspects I desired to experiment with. One was potion brewing. I'd seen a village apothecary produce several potions to help others with headaches and, on uncommon occasions, a concoction to put others who were stressed to sleep. I'd studied his method and found he used a metal pot of boiling water over a fire most of the time. When he had brought it outside to cool, I had approached the pot and attempted several times to open up a brewery menu like one would with a brewing stand in the standard game. This failed of course, which led me to worry that my powers did not stretch beyond crafting and world bending inventory space. It hit me the next day that it was possible that I would need to create an actual brewing stand, one that correlated to Minecraft itself.

This posed a major issue of course. To produce a brewing stand, you were required to utilize a blaze rod. Of course to do so, you would need to kill a blaze which practically resided in the realm of the nether or in other terms "hell". I do not believe a three year old is quite ready to take on a creature of the nether. Even then, who knew if portals to the nether operated the same as the game? Potion brewing would have to wait until I was a more able bodied person.

Next came enchanting. In Minecraft, applying enchantments that would increase the efficiency of your tool were one of the biggest things in the game. You would use an enchantment table, place your gear into it, apply the lapis lazuli depending on the enchantment tier you wanted and then pay a price in your experience levels. These experience levels did not operate like most games. You did not gain an increase in stats to these levels and they served no purpose but to be used in an anvil when combining enchantments from two different pieces of equipment or enchanting a normal piece of gear at an enchantment table.

The enchantments were ridiculously strong, some could set an enemy ablaze while others gave you the ability to form ice in water under you feet so you could just walk across and entire ocean. Each type of armor or tool had their own set of enchantments though. You could not slap sharpness which was meant for swords or axes on a helmet. To be honest, what would you do with sharpness on your helmet? Your head butt might be stronger, but who would rather use their helmet than an actual weapon?

On that note, with a new power came new possibilities. With the apothecary making new brews, I realized that these were not ones native to Minecraft. A sleeping potion, though light, was one that intrigued me greatly. Imagine putting the great ender dragon to sleep so you could kill it swiftly. No more spending ages climbing to the top of lumbering towers to take out the end crystals and then spending another period of time just slapping your puny sword against the dragon's hard scales.

Now what about enchantments? Could it be possible that a whole new set of additions to the enchantment system could've been integrated into my capabilities? These theories were a long shot, if I could not utilize the apothecary brewing pot with my powers, then it was likely I could not do so with other foreign aspects. The only issue was that I had been able to put a doll into my inventory. If this stood true, then that doll should've been unable to enter my storage. That was really the only hope I was basing most of my theories on.

I had attempted to try something else very big in Minecraft. Of course, that meant I needed trees and the nearest tree was located in the Loch Forest. As you could imagine, the town was warned to stay away from their due to some sort of creature residing in the darkness. I did not believe these stories. If they were true, the nearby knights under Lord Corchet's league would have dealt with it by now. They looked skilled and competent enough. Full iron armor meant a mere blade wouldn't penetrate their armor and would require a mace or heavy war axe as blunt force.

I also learned that sometimes people grip their sword by the blade to utilize their hand guard for blunt force offences. It is possible to do so without cutting yourself and it's not as crazy as you'd think. Slashing at a full iron armored knight is not going to break his armor before he cuts you down. Like I said before, a mace or a heavy war axe would be needed to take them down and that alone would be from blunt force.

Anyways, I was watched closely by the adults of the village due to my young body. They believed I would get myself into trouble and watched me carefully so they could come in at a moment's notice to pick me away from whatever may harm me. While I appreciated the care, it was bothersome. I have more experience than any mere three year old and could easily avoid dangers. Of course, I was actually looking _to go to_ the danger itself. The forest was an ideal place for me to start up my experimentation with my powers. First would be punching a tree.

If my knuckles did not break, then I pray to god it worked and I could take out a tree. If I couldn't then this power was practically garbage. I want to full pitch, not a ball toss. If my power did indeed reach as far as to allowing me to demolish wood with my bare fists, then I could begin experimenting with crafting. First I would start with my inventory crafting system then move on to use the workbench crafting system.

This was all fun and nice to plan and ponder but I would really like to try it out myself in real life.

"Mother, can I go to the forest?" I asked innocently as I glanced up to the woman holding my mini hands.

"Oh sweetie, haven't you heard? There's an evil person out there who likes to hurt others," she said softly. The amount of sugar she was layering on her words made me cringe. I can't wait until I'm older.

"Okay…" I sighed dejectedly. I wasn't going to try and convince them otherwise. How would you expect a three year old boy to convince his mother to let him wander into the deep dark creepy forest nearby? Oh wait, that's right…

 _You don't…_

Except who said I wouldn't go anyways?

* * *

I have _borrowed_ enough food and animal skin containers to keep me fed and hydrate for two days. All of this was kept within my inventory so I had no reason to worry that I would be caught unless someone had witnessed me do the deed. A whole week of planning and gathering things such as rags to use as bandages and a small knife I had swiped from our friendly neighbor were a pain to get. It was Sunday again and the church session had just ended, giving me free time to roam around. My parents would believe the nuns were taking care of me.

Hopefully the nuns would think the sack of grass in clothes was just sleeping.

Sneaking away from the nuns themselves wasn't very much of a challenge. They were very laid back, more so than any real nun should be. Of course I was not complaining. It allowed me to get away with some of my more undesirable activities such as stealing.

Oh wait, I mean _borrowing…_

The owners will just never get them back, but I'm sure these can easily be replaced! I heard the blacksmith was already making a replacement knife at the forge for the town hunter and I barely stole enough food to make a difference in the village's survival chances in winter. They had plenty of food stocked up already and another harvest was coming in from a nearby town to do trade.

So off to the forest I go. The Loch Forest was located near the south side of the town. Of course, the church was closest due to the fact it was already located on the southern side of town. I basically had to get over a hill before one of those pesky adults caught sight of me. Once I was over, they would be unable to see the small boy running towards the forest.

As of now I was laying a ditch near the edge of town. The church was still in my sight but no one had noticed lack of presence as of yet. That was good but it also made me question the responsibility of some of these people who worked at the church. Should they really trust their kids with them if a mere three year old like me could slip away this easily?

I rose slightly from the ditch and watched the last couple stroll past me while giggling to each other. The man had a very girlish giggle mind you. Once they were around the corner, I took the chance and bolted. My little legs carried me further than I thought they could but maybe it was out of anticipation and excitement. I would finally be able to test the more important aspects of my powers.

With a few more steps I finally reached the base of the hill and began to climb my way to the top. This was the most dangerous part. Any second, someone could look over and easily pick me out from the side of the grassy slope. I needed to be quicker. I needed to be faster.

 _Dear god I felt a shiver go down my neck..._

I felt like I had forgotten about a certain detail, something that put a knot in my stomach. There was no turning back, though. If I stopped now, I was less likely to run into whatever it was that was giving me the jeepers.

Fifty meters till the top…

 _Are those footsteps?_

Forty meters…

 _No those can't be… no one could've come this close to me in such a short time… Actually, if they had consumed a potion of speed than maybe…_

Thirty meters…

 _Oh hell no, those are definitely footsteps!_

I whirled around in time to see Delilah, her face already a mere foot away from mine as she soared through the air with her arms outstretched. I watched in horror and slow motion as she practically _bitch missiled_ me in the stomach. Her arms wrapped around my sides while her head jammed into my diaphragm. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched three entire hearts on my health bar vanish before my body impacted the grassy soil with a thud. For a moment or two my vision went blurry and the colors mixed together.

I forgot where I was out of disorientation while the sky began to take shape once more into what it was supposed to look like. I wonder if I had died and reincarnated again. If that were true, I was waiting for a mother's face to appear over me.

"Tush!" Delilah giggled in delight as her face popped into my vision.

 _God damnit…_

"What… do you _want?_ " I seethed in pain, realizing she was now sitting on my chest for the fifth time this month. A moment later, a stuffed doll impacted my face and another point on my health withered away.

"Dolly!"

* * *

 **AN:** I was worried that might've overdone this last part with Delilah when I wrote this a while back, but I am not gong to rewrite it. I just don't have the time to do so. Sorry if it kind of hurts the story for you. As always, reviews are a nice thing!


	3. Chapter 3: Away From the Little Girl

**AN:** To be honest with you all, I do not like this chapter very much. I had written this story quite a long time ago when I was very inexperienced with the making up storylines and I feel that this chapter damaged the stability of the story. Could you imagine me looking at it now and trying to revise it? I feel like this is still half assed and there was more I could've done but I just don't really have time. This chapter is also more serious than the previous two and I hope I was able to fix this chapter up well enough for your liking. I would also ask you to read the second Author's Note at the end of this chapter. Reviews are a nice thing too by the way!

* * *

[Age: 10]

I realize now that there is no escaping the little demon girl named Delilah. Where I go, she goes. I have accepted that now. Now it was totally normal to be surprised when I found the Corchet's did not join us in the weekly church sessions. When I had reached the age of seven, I was allowed to join the church sermons and listen in… of course I didn't want to really. My mother could tell I was not a believer of their religion and that I had no intention to become one either. As of now, I had my own religion from my own home and this one was not it. I could deal with religious beliefs later on in my life.

I had refrained from attempting to venture into the forest for another seven years. After the scene Delilah had caused, the Nuns promptly caught sight of my downed figure atop the hill and rushed over to capture their escapee. After an hour of scolding by both the nun's and my parents, I soon realized I wouldn't get another chance for quite a while. They watched me like a hawk, thinking that I would try to wander off into the forest again. Especially since my mother still remembered my request to venture there in the first place, I had been placed under what was probably comparable to a high security level for the more dangerous criminals held in a prison. You know what? Thanks Delilah for costing me several years.

Besides fuming over my annoying friend I unintentionally made in these lands, I also spent these years learning new things and also experimenting once again with my power in other ways with one of them being I proved my ability to harvest objects in a Minecraft fashion. It was actually a pretty funny process. You see, my only "tool" I have on me as a young child is my fists. I had to test if I could punch through a wooden tree and actually break something that weren't my bones.

The chance to test it out came a lot sooner than later.

By now most people in Korcha knew I was a little off. If not for my seemingly fast acceleration in maturity but also by how I distanced myself from most people my age. While I should be playing games with them, I would instead be out watching the blacksmith work or writing something down on a small parchment that some could have sworn looked like building plans. With this, I became more of an outsider than anything. It wasn't exactly as bad as it sounded. The adults didn't dislike me but more found me unusual and tended to not strike up conversations with me unlike how they did with other village children. Some even went out of their way to avoid me. It was not out of dislike but more of discomfort. Some could say I even intimidated others.

I was perfectly fine with that.

What I was not fine with was that some of the more boisterous village boys became a bit aggressive towards me. A group of five approached me while I was looking into another bordering kingdom to Alkaline with very nasty intentions. First action they took was slapping the map held in my hand into the dirt and shoving me backwards.

At first, I stumbled like a weak bumbling fool with a half shocked expression etched across my face. To my shame, that itself was sincere shock which I soon got over. This of course led to the boys feeling empowered at the sight of someone who they thought would bend to their will. Why wouldn't the outsider of their age be weak and cowardly? What loner isn't?

They've got a lot to learn.

A moment later, I had brought my hands up and slammed my tightly gripped fist into the jaw of one of the larger boys. I heard a sickening crack and from the blood spewing from his mouth, he had probably bit his tongue. I was a hard hitter for a ten year old. My second swing missed sadly but it was a blessing in disguise. My second target ducked and I ended up smashing my arm through a nearby wooden sign post. I did not notice it at first but my hands registered no pain. I merely shook the debris off my hands which was apparently very hellishly intimidating.

The boys hauled ass and they never approached me again. The mere fact I could smash wood with nothing but my fists was probably frightening. Hell, I don't even think they cried to their mothers about it. If they had, I would've already been accosted by my parents on getting into fights. When I retrieved my map and returned to my home where I fixed some holes in the house with my parents, it finally hit me that my fists were not harmed in any way. I could therefore, likely punch a tree and actually get wood from it by doing so just like in the game. Further proving this theory, I found an item in my inventory I had not noticed before.

A wooden post similar to that of a fence post rested next to my stolen hunting knife.

So foreign objects to Minecraft were now harvestable? That was splendid. No that was more than splendid. This was great. This was the best thing since discovering inventories. I had to go into the forest now. There was no Delilah to stop me this time.

My excuse for leaving the house the next day was that I had promised to help get rid of some of the mice raiding the grain stores. With a frown and a quick glance towards each other, my parents reluctantly let me go. With that lie, I ran off towards the edge of the village. My parents were a sore topic for me. It was difficult forcing myself to not blame my current ones for taking me away from my own world. It was not their fault nor did they even know of any crimes against me they have committed. It was one of the more irrational thought's I had when I got angry at them. I did not like how aware I was of my own issues and yet continued to fail to control this one emotion. I was already nearly emotionally inept to fear and panic. Why could I not just ignore this last one towards my parents? Even then, they haven't done anything to wrong me at all. They raised me like every other child in the village was raised and if I hadn't had possession of my original life, I would've grown up to likely be their perfect child.

Yet I had those memories and I wasn't. I notice when my Mother, Teresa, peers over my shoulder with her soft eyes and calm face when I study the numerous maps and notes I had taken over my new lifespan I had lived here. It worries her and I know she wonders what I get up to in my spare time. She didn't think I should be learning so obsessively about the lands. I overheard her talking to my father, Jerry, over the issue.

He of course agreed with her. He was tougher on me about problems like these. He believed that our lives were bound to the soul of this village itself. He wanted me to grow up and dedicate myself to advance Korcha. When he finally began to take notice of my strange interest in maps and the layout of the lands, he began to grow worried. To anyone, it seemed like I was aspiring to leave to village and venture off somewhere. They weren't wrong. I would leave this place one day in hopes of finding my way home.

They both wanted something I did not want. It just wasn't for me.

I'd gotten to know them well enough despite my attempts to distance myself. I've lived with them for ten years so it would be difficult not to learn things about them. Father was loud and proud, but was one of the few people I'd ever met who could back his attitude up. He had the ideals every perfect father should have. He was big, tall, looked tall, and was well respected for his personality. He was the perfect father for this world if you weren't someone who desired a high class society upbringing.

Mother was kind like all mothers should be. She worried about me like a normal mother and went out of her way to see if I had any problems that were burdening me or her husband. She was strict as all mothers in these lands were, but I did not really see a fault in that. You had to discipline a child as they grew up so they would become a decent personality. Like her husband, she was respectable even with her status as a woman. Unlike in modern America, Alkaline still saw the male gender as superior. I was glad to say my mother broke that standard.

No one was looking my way and I exited the boundaries of Korcha. With that, I easily scaled up the hill now that I was a great many years older. Once over, I sprinted down towards the edge of the forest.

That's how I got to where I am now.

To be honest, I understood why there were so many stories about the nasty things that resided in the Loch Forest. It was dark under the canopy of leaves and it seemed like you could easily get lost inside it. I wouldn't go too far into the forest. My only goal as of now was to take out a tree. That only required me to be at the edge of the dark forest. The hill shielded me away from the sight of the village so I had no reason to worry about someone spotting me.

On that note, I approached my first tree.

These trees were a lot larger than the average tree I was used to in Minecraft. They were about five blocks high unless you were talking about a spruce of jungle tree which were dramatically larger. These although, if measured by blocks, could've easily passed ten. The branches too were ridiculously spread out. I could work with one tree for an entire week with the amount of wood it could provide me.

Eagerly, I approached the base of the tree and planted my right palm into its bark to feel its rough edges. I was still hesitant about punching an actual _tree._ It would be such a ludicrous idea ten years ago. Now here I was actually planning on doing it. Ten years I had not seen my real family. Ten years since I had left modern civilization for reasons unknown to me and shoved into this body.

I drew back my palm and tightened my grip into a ball. With a fluid motion, more fluid than a boy of age ten should have been capable of, I struck the bark of the tree. A loud crack echoed throughout the forest but it was not my bones snapping. No this was the sound of my success as cracks formed where I had struck. I felt joy well up inside me before I brought the same hand back. Another strike and those cracks spread like a growing spider web. I drew both hands this time and struck in quick successions until the entire section of the tree shattered. I watched in awe as the shards vanished mid-air and a log of wood pop into my inventory.

There was just one thing I had miss-calculated. One thing no one in Minecraft every really took into account all too much. No one really thought about _gravity_ because it did not affect most blocks in the game. I seem to have forgotten that it did here.

 _Crackthoom!_

The entire tree slammed down to fill in the empty space where I had removed the section of the log. A moment later, it began to tilt towards me. I watched with a stupefied expression as the tree seemed to grow bigger.

"Shit!" I squealed before diving to my left. The cackling of what sounded like dried bread being snapped in two filled the forest as the tree fully tumbled over on top of me. Dust and soil fumed into the air as the tree made impact. A sharp pain blasted through my legs instantly before they went numb. I could barely make anything out in the sudden storm of dust that was just barely starting to settle. A moment later, the air began to clear. Coughing heavily, I cleared my lungs and glanced down. What I saw was not something I wanted to see.

"Fuck me," I said in a ragged breath when I realized everything below my knees had been crushed and _detached_. The tree had ripped off my lower legs. The pain exploded again when the adrenaline began to wear off. I bit off a scream in my mouth and clenched my fists. Blood was oozing into the grass and I could see the remains of my lower legs still stuck under the tree. My racing heart was probably not in any way helping the blood loss matter.

I turned over with another scream and grabbed at the grassy soil. I then began to pull myself away from the tree. Each pull left another trail of my blood. I got a hold of a large rock implanted into the ground and heaved myself up against it. Glancing down, I examined the stocks that used to be my legs in horror.

No time to panic. Don't panic, I need to _think_. I can fix this. I _will_ fucking fix this…

My health! Yes my health bar is on… four hearts?! That means eight out of twenty hit points. I don't fully understand the distribution of these points in terms of damage correlating to the real world but this injury was obviously pretty _fucking serious_. So what the hell was I supposed to do?! I needed to regenerate my health. First stop death and then deal with my lack of legs.

Regeneration of health was a common and simple concept in games. You lose health and after a while or maybe through certain actions, you would regain that health over time. Minecraft relied on a hunger system which regenerated your health as long as you had enough hunger points. If your hunger was as low as seventeen then the regeneration would pause until you consumed a source of food.

My hunger bar was down by five points so I instantly snatched handful of apples within my inventory and began to greedily bite into them with a savagery even unknown to me. I watched the points fill up to max before a point of my health appeared back. Seething, I looked down and made a half grimace half grin in victory as a portion of my leg sizzled back into existence. I didn't feel any more pain added on from the regeneration than I already did, it was just like nothing even happened. My health continued to regenerate over time and I just sat there ravaging away at my supply of apples. Blood was still seeping out of my damaged legs and the regeneration was only going downwards. There was revealed flesh and bones for a good ten seconds before skin would fully reform around the muscles. This gave plenty of time for blood to ooze out of the still slightly damaged veins and the number of obliterated bones. Soon enough, my legs had gone all the way back down to my ankles.

This was amazing. Truly I was something remarkable. I defied the laws of science itself. The pain had almost stopped entirely. I watched in awe as tissue reformed out of nowhere to make my heel. The regeneration was perfect. There were no scars and even blemishes had disappeared. It was like a person had just been born. A second later and my toes finished.

I sat there, not daring to move my leg in fear of what might happen. When the realization hit me though, I let out a cry of relief and collapsed back onto the rock. I had legs still! Who wouldn't be filled with puppy-love joy? It all happened too fast and I doubted the entire situation was properly registering into my mind at the moment. Maybe later it would. My pants were obviously destroyed and being held together by rags around my nether regions. How would I explain this to mother? I even had a bit of blood drying on my shirt. Better yet, what should I do with my… spare legs?

I glanced over to the bloodied pair of calves and feet stuck under the tree and grimaced. My stomach was practically in knots from merely looking at it from a distance. I wanted to vomit at the image imbedded in my mind.

 _No, I did not venture this far just give up now…_

With a twitch, I wiggled my toes and was satisfied I had no nerve damage. Quickly, I hopped up onto my feet. With a splash of my bare feet in my own blood pool that had formed during my regeneration, it took me by surprise how normal my new legs felt. It was as if I had never lost them in the first place. Taking one step and then another, I approached the tree which had nearly killed me and began punching into the area that trapped my legs under.

Soon enough, I had another piece of log in my inventory. Grabbing my… legs, no matter how weird this was, I pried off my boots and slipped them onto my current feet. Blood had had pooled into the heels of the shoes and I was forced to poor the contents into the dirt. Lucky for me, the color of the boots were dark already and the blood stained heels were nearly identical to its original state. My legs although were covered in thick red liquid that had pooled around the limbs while I had been trying to remove the tree. My hands were already stained all over with blood and I would have to wash them off later. I lugged the pair of extremities over to another area slightly deeper into the forest. Then I began punching the ground. Just like I expected, a large portion of the ground disappeared. It was not a perfect square shape but it was similar to a more roundish oval. I dumped the legs into the hole followed by showing a nearby bush over into the ditch so that the legs would never be found.

With that over besides the poor condition of my pants, I began to make my way down the log. Surprisingly, when the larger branches were harvested, they were counted as logs while the smaller ones were converted into sticks. The leaves were also very interesting. When the branch shattered and disappeared into my inventory, the leaves dissolved in the air. What were generally left behind were usually tree seeds and on rare occasions an apple. This was surprising as there were no apple's growing on these trees. Picking up everything I could get my hands on, then turned to the next experiment on wished to conduct.

I glanced to my inventory menu on the side of my vision and mentally ordered one of the logs to move into the two by two crafting menu. Like I'd thought, the box with the arrow filled with four planks. I took the planks out and the log disappeared. Then I dumped a plank into all four slots which formed a crafting table. Taking that out, I began to grin. Placing a building item was something I never really tried, though I could've ages ago. I simply moved the crafting table into my hot bar.

The hot bar was a very peculiar thing actually. As of now, I had only a hunting knife in my first slot. What was really interesting was that I could easily switch to an item out in my hand. One moment I could have an apple and another I would have a blade at your throat. I could practically hide weapons and even carry a private armory I could access any time I wanted on my person.

The crafting table appeared in my hand as a miniature version of itself and I stared at it. I was unsure how I was really supposed to do this. Do I just mentally think it to be placed or do I physically do so? If it was mentally, it would've done so by now. I proceeded to lightly toss the mini crafting table into the air. The moment the item collided with the ground, it expanded and formed an entire full blown crafting table with a three by three pattern on top and wooden equipment hanging off on the sides.

Now I had to access the crafting table. Calmly, I approached the station and rested my hand on the surface. Immediately a three by three crafting menu appeared with an arrow pointing towards the finished product slot. Below was a selection in my own inventory and the armada of items I had collected. The most numerous were obviously the wooden logs which I would soon break down into more usable planks.

For now I wanted to test as many possible variables as I could.

With half my ass cheeks revealed to the elements due to my lack of good conditioned pants, I began to work away at the crafting table.

* * *

Sadly, by the time I had finished, I had lost track of time. The excitement of all the new options and possibilities I had explored had seemingly entranced me. I was in too good of a mood to really care at the moment. After retrieving just about everything and storing them away into my inventory, I found a nearby stream to wash off my blood soaked body. When stepping in, it was oddly cold but I brushed that off to my new legs. I probably shouldn't have, seeing as there were no other factors that were different with my new legs.

Night time was already coming and by the way the sun was barely peaking out over the horizon, I had missed supper. First thing I needed to do was retrieve a new spare set of pants. Living in this village for ten years, I already knew the perfect place to _borrow_ one. The first thing I did not trot back into town with a slight hum in my mouth. I was in a pretty jolly mood considering I had lost my legs and gone to reform another set. Most would've passed out at the mere sight, especially if it were their own limbs. Of course with my strangely calm mind, everything was more bliss than everything else.

Plus they were looking at it the wrong way. They needed to see everything for its possibilities. With the ability to regenerate body tissues, you were practically lifted from the weight of worry of injuries you might receive in your life. Oh you're nerves in your arm no longer work? I can just simply slice the limb off and I will have a fresh set with a perfect connection to the other nerves running through my body. As gruesome as I sounded, you would have to be pretty obtuse to not see the possibilities.

Most people were already in their homes by now. From what I had learned from the common belief in the region, demons and monsters straight from the depths of hell lurked in the darkness of the shadows. They are said to fester at night time so most go to bed early and shy away from the darkness. Hell, most people sleep with a small lantern lit in the corner on their bed stand. For me, I held no such beliefs of demons and monsters.

The Wilkins family was a very quiet family. They worked as tailors for the village and usually had a surplus supply of clothing hanging about so they could sell them if need be. Something I was going to exploit was their knack for accidently leaving drying clothes out on a rack outside overnight. With over a dozen pairs of trousers hanging from the rack, I doubted they'd notice one pair missing.

Swiftly, I approached the house and found the nearby rack. Snatching the pants off, I sprinted away around the corner so I could slip it over my legs. It was slightly baggier than my original set but these would pass as normal. As long as I didn't walk by Mr. Wilkins who was the village tailor, it would be fine to wear these around for a while as well.

All I had to do was walk home now and just head to bed. Taking another turn and following the gravel and dirt pathway, I made my way slowly towards my house.

In my long session, one of the many things I had experimented with was the chests system. They were able to store twenty seven slots of items as a single chest and double so if they were combined with another to form a double chest. I found that they indeed worked and I could easily store and withdrawal items in and out. The only issue I had with the chests was that you had to actually open them up to access them menu unlike the Crafting Table where u were only required to lay a single hand on the surface.

With so many things to occupy myself with, I didn't even get to starting with tools. There was just so much I could suddenly _do_ now that I really had no idea what really to focus on. In the end I went towards a little bit of everything. (Everything that I had to resources to supply, of course).

Armor was obviously not possible for me. The lowers tier armor provided by the game was leather and that required me to go hunt something or steal from the village tanner. While I had no moral issue with stealing, the tanner usually slept inside the building he worked at. Iron of course was the second lowest material and was pretty much one of the most important metals in the game. With there already being an iron mine nearby, I just needed the proper equipment to harvest the ore. That meant I needed to get at least stone equipment. To therefore harvest stone required at least wooden equipment which I didn't have time to erect. You would think that I would at least try to equip myself with some of the more basic gear in Minecraft.

Once acquiring iron gear, I would actually like to bring it to the local blacksmith and have him compare the equipment to his own work. He probably wouldn't have a full set of iron armor plating but he should have a number of iron swords.

Another topic to look into later was the other metals that were present in the region, metals such as silver, tin, copper and others alike that were not present in the average Minecraft game. If I could utilize foreign items in my inventory, I had no doubt I could possibly utilize other base materials as well. For all I knew, I could make copper and silver armor. Not that they would be as strong as maybe steel armor but I had no way of knowing for sure whether or not my hypothesis was valid as of now. I only had access to iron for now.

My thought process came to a halt when I found that there was someone else not inside their homes by now. My home was directly in front of me and my Father stood there with his arms crossed and a great scowl etched upon his intimidating face. With a quick gulp before hardening my expression, I approached the house and attempted to walk right passed the man. Instead of grabbing me, he let me open the door and walk inside the house.

The first thing I saw was my mother scrubbing a few plates over a metal bucket hanging up against the wall. I watched the pitch black hair on the back of her head as she ignored my presence. The eerie silence did not bother nor would I let it. They were pissed at me, that much was obvious. I on the other hand was too stubborn to let it show whether or not I cared. I'd seen the way they feared so called demons and held their so called talisman's to themselves tightly at night. The people of Alkaline were devout believers that anything that could not be explained was no doubt the work of the devil.

I had no choice but to refrain from revealing to my parents of the power I was equipped with.

I heard my father walk in and heave the door shut. The resounding thud the door made was louder than a normal door being closed. I ignored it and went straight to my cot where I found a number of my maps lying where I had left them. Immediately, I get to work looking through the maps and memorizing each possible detail.

"Nothing to say?" I heard my father Jerry growl.

"I lost track of time," I stated blandly before laying another map on top of another. A moment later, a large calloused hand had ripped the maps out of my grip. I glared up in surprise as Jerry was suddenly in my voice.

"Catching mice in the grain stores?! Tell me something else I don't know! Like maybe where you _really_ were!" he roared into my face. A single sweat dropped from my forehead. He'd somehow been informed that I hadn't gone to help solve the mice issue. "Or maybe you were looking to attack another one of the Corchet boys again?"

"Pardon?" I replied in surprise. Suddenly, my maps were thrown into my face before I was dragged out of the cot by my collar. A second later and I was being held up to my father's face and meeting his glare head on.

"Pardon my ass, boy! Four others claimed you approached and assaulted one of their friends out of nowhere! Four! Do you think you can lie your ass out of this one?!"

"I don't know… what you're talking about!" I gasped while dangling my legs from the air. So it seems the boys did go crying to someone. What really surprised me was that father had called the one I had attacked a Corchet. Delilah had never told me about any other family members besides her parents. If one of them were of high blood, of course they'd be more devious and vengeful. What I didn't take into account was how twisted they would bind the real story into their own. "I never _attacked_ anyone!"

"The boy bit his own tongue off! He could barely talk! If you never attacked him, why the hell are there a number of witnesses claiming the same thing?!"

"They attacked _me!"_ I wheezed. It was awfully difficult to breathe when being held up by your shirt. A moment later and I was lying on the ground with a throb going through my back. Father had practically thrown me to the ground.

"The hell did I raise?" Jerry seethed, running his hands through the locks of his hair.

"I'm disappointed in you, son. Since when did you turn to such _sinful_ acts?!" Mother finally spoke up. I seethed from the throbbing ache in my back while pushing myself onto my knees. When I registered the words, my heart twisted like every child's heart did when they heard those words. The mere words that their parents were disappointed had a massive affect on children. For a moment, I felt like wallowing up into a hole and dying.

The next I felt my mind calm down suddenly, just like it had done when my legs were brutally ripped off by the falling tree. I let my brain take over so I could think once more. As the gears in my head turned, I realized a simple fact. The fact that began to bypass the calming mindset I normally had. I had a dark anger burning inside. Slowly, my hands tightened into fists.

"You obviously…" I growled from the ground while still on my knees "never deserved to raise a child in the first place if you can't even think through everything."

The room went suddenly silent.

I slowly stood up defiantly with my fists still curled up tightly. I thought my nails would draw blood on my palms if I gripped any tighter. With a single move, I whirled around to face my parents. An instant later, I felt my mother's hand impact across my left cheek. The strike knocked my hand back slightly and I winced but there was no emotional damage. It was physical and nothing more.

"How dare you!" Teresa, my mother, yelled. "I am your mother! You are to speak to us with respect and nothing more! _We_ gave you life! _We_ feed you! _We_ care for you! Would you rather be living with all those other orphans, never receiving any care from their parents whatsoever?!"

"You did not give me life!" I roared back. My real parents did, somewhere in this world where they likely thought I was dead. "I do not respect you!" I respect my real mother and father who taught me common sense in the modern world. "You may feed me but I do not _need_ it and you most certainly do not fucking care _enough_!"

"Tusk since day _one_ we have done nothing but love you and done our best to raise you into a proper man who would _do_ things in life. Have you forgotten?!" Jerry growled loudly.

"If you really loved me, you would actually _think_ about what you're fed like a baby. Obviously your best wasn't good enough," I spat at them. Their expressions were one of shock and hurt. It pissed me off to see that I had hurt their feelings, as if I were the bad guy. My father soon got a hold of his mind and his brows furrowed into a deep scowl. " _What?_ "

"I should've known you were going down the wrong path! You don't talk to us when we eat together, you always disappear, and never have I seen you once focus on what's _important_ in life! All you do is venture off to who the hell knows where probably getting high on some herb you scrounge up like those city street rats in Arcadia!"

"Then tell me what _is important_ then!"

"Your future!" Jerry roared back, his large hands clasping over my shoulders and shaking them. "You have apprenticeships starting in _two_ years and you have done absolutely nothing to prepare for it!"

Ah that's right. Apprenticeships were a common practice for people of the Alkaline kingdom. At the age of twelve or thirteen for some of the later families, children were put into an apprenticeship with someone who was already working in the field. Normally, it would be with their father but sometimes they desired for their child to go into a much higher upbringing. The only issue was that the higher tier the apprenticeship, the more money it cost to sustain the training.

My father of this world worked as one of the village managers of sorts. Whatever needed to be done, you came to him and he gave out the orders to say the architecture or a blacksmith on what was needed to be done. Not everything here was based upon self property. If the village was to flourish, everyone needed to work together. The currency was more to use when a foreign trader came into town. While his position may have seemed high, it really did not bring much in. There was no pay and we lived off of the food stores accumulated from traders.

My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps. No way in hell was I going to do that.

"Instead you bury your face into _these!_ " he roared, shoving one of the maps off the ground and pushing it into my arms. "You want to be an explorer? A sailor? Heaven forbid an adventurer?!There's nothing for you in that life!"

I glanced down into the map before stuffing it away out of his sight before he damaged it even more. These maps were hard to get and I needed them precariously. I glanced at both my parents, Mother being silent and my Father still in a fit of rage. I shouldn't have lashed back at them. There was no changing their mind. In this world, the child was an obedient slave to their parents. What they said was the law in the household.

So I remained silent, but still stared them in the eyes defiantly. My father saw this act of disobedience as the final straw. His hands wrapped around my arm with a grip strong enough to cut off circulation and shoved me towards the door.

"If you think yourself to be so independent, so smart, and so _powerful_ then leave! When you realize the mistake you've made, you can come back anytime you want! Until you learn this fact, you're on your own!" his words echoed throughout the house. I glanced at him in shock.

I had miscalculated the severity of the repercussions of disobedience on a child's part. My mother although had a shocked expression as well. She obviously had not expected this either. Scratch that, this might've been one of the more extreme cases.

The room was silent once again until I dusted my shirt off. I could see the confusion in my father's eyes instantly, as he had expected me to give in by now.

"If that is what you want, then I will," I spoke, but this time without any anger in my voice. I just sounded tired to them, and I really was. I felt like I just needed to sleep. I turned to the door and pulled my exit open. Without a single word, I walked out into the night. Whether or not they made a move to stop me, they obviously were hesitant because I heard no words from them either. I did not look back to check either as I disappeared into the night of the streets.

* * *

 **AN2:** Okay so because of the purposeful intentions of making this chapter in a more serious tone, I removed the main humor component of the story for this chapter only. Delilah is that humor component. She will be back next chapter so don't worry. Now once again, I'm sorry if the actions and events of this chapter were unrealistic but that was how I had written it originally a long time ago and when I went through them again, I found that I would have to make extreme changes if I were to thoroughly fix these issues.

 **Regeneration:** I feel that the scene where Tusk temporarily looses his legs were rushed and too sudden. I wanted there to be an event where I could introduce the regeneration aspect of Minecraft into he story when I had originally written this but now over a year later, I found that I needed to revise that scene ridiculously. It was not detailed, it was heavily rushed and it seemed like he was practically staring at his legless stumps and going "Oh what an inconvenience." I wanted to put this scene in a different chapter but I couldn't think of anywhere else to put it and I also had a difficult time detailing that scene as it was all together.

 **Parents:** It was brought to my attention but one of my reviewers that I was not focusing enough of his parents enough and I realized that as well. Originally, I had wanted to try and refrain from that as Tusk was going to try and distance himself from them to lessen heart ache when he abandoned them. Of course, ten years is quite a long time to give someone the cold shoulder. So then came the scene where they kick him out of the house to teach him a lesson. I realized that I was making his parents seem irrational and abusive in a way, but I was aiming for the idea that they were good people but just didn't understand Tusk. Tusk is not leaving the village of course, he just won't be living with his parents and whether or not he ever comes back to them is for you to find out in future chapters.

 **Time skip:** When I revised this chapter, I had a major head ache trying to justify this time jump. I mean, if you had this power, who would wait seven years to actually try it out? I then tried using the pesky adults who abhor the forest as an excuse for this, but even that was shaky grounds to use. In the end, it was all I could think of and there wasn't really much I could do unless I decided to just delete the next few chapters and rewrite them entirely.


	4. Chapter 4: Invitation From a Young Girl

**AN:** As always, a review is always a nice thing!

* * *

[Three Days After Expulsion]

"A pickaxe," I stated simply in front of Blacksmith Hester. The middle aged man had a great beard draped over his large belly which promptly shielded the forge apron that was wrapped around his torso. His short stature honestly reminded me of dwarves. The man glanced up from the anvil he had been hammering away at with his equipment and peered into my eyes.

"Aren't you that Tusk boy?" he grumbled. I looked up at the ceiling of his workshop and silently groaned. Word had spread quite quickly around Korcha that I had promptly been kicked out of the house. After doing a bit of a dig into parent child relations, it had actually become quite a common practice for parents to kick their children out if they were disobedient. The only catch was that they let the child come back any time they desired to as long as they learnt their lesson.

I on the other hand have no lesson to learn.

"Yes, I am. Though I doubt that really matters seeing as I am a customer. I need an iron pickaxe and I have no money, sir. What would you have me do to get one," I repeated once more. Hester hummed to himself before slamming his hammer back down onto the metal blade he was shaping. I watched the sparks fly and matt his apron before sizzling out. The room was dim with only the open wall near the farther side of the room letting light in. There were no windows and the only other opening was the chimney to the metal furnace that was built into the other far side.

"What could a boy your age possibly want with a pickaxe," the man inquired. I watched him pick up the blade with metal clamps to inspect the work. I was not master of this craft, so I did not really understand why he was doing so. I could guess he was making sure there were no faults in its shape.

"I mean no disrespect, but what I get up to in my time is my own business, sir."

"Well then…" Hester grunted as he dropped the heated blade into a barrel of water. The sizzling and steam that rose from the air were in a way entertaining. It wasn't every day I got to examine a man work on metal equipment. I eyed the armor resting in the back. From what I could tell, they were old and in poor shape. The fact he had them at all was a surprise. My eyes snapped back to the dwarfish looking man as he limped over to me on what looked like a bad leg. He promptly grabbed a nearby container and pulled out what looked like a bundle of thin stems with leaves the size of little water droplets hanging near the top. "You ever seen Eisen before, lad?"

"I believe I've seen them somewhere."

"I'm sure ya' have. Look here, I mix this herb in with the cooling vat before I drop anything in. The mixture tends to prevent the metal from bending up or shit like that!" he grunted loudly. I was beginning to wonder if he actually was a dwarf with the way he carried himself.

"And you want me to get you some, sir?"

"Aye!" he replied with a wave of his large meaty hands. "Just don't get to eager, lad. You see the only place these things grow naturally is in that Loch Forest. You'd best not go in there and give up now,"

"And you think the location is going to stop me?"

"I'd think you would. Most the other lads running about seem keen on believing those stories about demons and monsters prowling in the dark. _Bah!_ " he spat before turning to me. I met his hard gaze and merely gulped. Unlike most personalities I had met, this man was hardened to the core. You could tell easily by simply studying his retinas. "Though, I think I understand now. You don't believe those stories either, do ya lad?"

"No sir."

"Huh, it's about damn time someone else here learned to grow some balls!" he bellowed. I couldn't tell if he was complimenting me or insulting Korcha. "Though I doubt you parents would like you going out there of all places."

"You know my circumstances, sir. They have no right."

"Don't see many children like you these days, huh?"

"No, sir. So I get you the herbs, I get one of your pickaxes?" I reviewed eagerly. The hunched man nodded silently, not really caring. It didn't take a genius to realize he didn't really expect me to do it anyways. That was fine; I was just going to prove his assuming ass wrong. I watched him turn back to his work before speaking again. "How does exactly sixty four bundles of Eisens sound?"

What followed next was a series of sputtering and coughs that sounded remarkably similar to an emu.

"Surely you jest," the man grunted as he glanced my way. His eyes bulged out of their sockets when he saw that I had somehow magically brought forth a large collection of the thin green herbs and currently held it tightly within my arms. After being kicked out of the house, I spent the next three days exploring the forests. What kind of gamer would I be if I didn't pick up at least a stack of every single object I came across? "The boy isn't jesting Marla…"

Marla?

"I'm sure this should be enough to last for a while?"

"Ah yes!" Hester exclaimed before hurrying off to one of the tool racks. I watched as several axes and swords were pulled aside against the seared brick walls with patience and anticipation all at once. Soon enough, he brought back three different pickaxes which he then laid before me on the table. "These three were left behind when some knights of the Corchet House found a poor prospector out in the lands. Apparently he'd been caught by a group of bandits. With no use for these things, they dropped em' off here hoping I might find a use."

"You're giving me all three?"

"Of course not! Pick one, lad," Hester growled impatiently. I gave the man a rude scowl before resting my hand upon the first pick. As I expected, the item appeared in my hot bar the moment I picked it up. As long as I did not switch to a different item in my hot bar of move the pick into my inventory, the tool would remain in my hands. I only wanted to see the item description anyways.

Mentally willing the description to come forth, I was not really surprised to see the words _Hardened Iron Pickaxe_ appear. If you had been wondering what I was doing here instead of making my own equipment like every Minecraft player did, this was the answer. On the far end of my hot bar, a pick I had made myself out of iron lay with only a smidge of durability drained. What had caught me off guard when I had made the pick manually with my power was the fact it had been named _Crude Iron Pickaxe_. This new pick before me had confirmed it. Equipment that was made through normal means would be higher tier if made properly.

Don't get me wrong, the crude version of the pickaxe was equivalent to its counterpart in the actual game. How I could tell was actual something not all players knew how to do, despite it being dramatically useful.

In Minecraft there were numerous Debug function keys. The most well known was simply hitting F3 on the keyboard to bring up a menu of numerous data platforms. Most people usually used this to get an exact location of where they were. Sadly, I couldn't actually pull this up but what I could do was use the F3 and H function which brought Advanced Tool Tips. This was supposed to reveal in game item ID numbers and durability of equipment mainly. Of course, only items which existed in the game possessed item IDs. Items such as Eisen did not have such IDs.

All I had to do was mentally command for Advanced Tool Tips to activate. As of now, the crude iron pick had a durability of 234/250. The crude iron pick being as good as an average pick, I had no issue with that. The hardened iron pick although had a durability of 389/400 which was quite a dramatic increase. If I enchanted them with Unbreaking then they would have a chance of not losing durability every time used. Of course, since I did not possess an enchantment table, upgrades were out of the question.

If I ever got enough diamonds to craft an enchantment table, I would likely already have a diamond pickaxe in my possession anyways and wouldn't really need Unbreaking for quite a while. With a base durability of 1561/1561, a diamond pickaxe was quite strong. I never really understood why they made something normally built into jewelry become the strongest material in the game.

"That your pick?" Hester asked with a bored expression. I glanced back up in surprise. I had actually forgotten he was there in my thought process. I quickly checked the other picks and found them all to be the same variation as the one I held.

"Yes, I'll take this one," I said with a grin. The blacksmith saw it and shivered slightly as I turned on my heels to leave. I heard him mumble something about kids these days being different then he remembered when I exited the forge house.

The bright sun outside hit my eyes harder then I'd expected, and I was forced to shield them away from the blinding lights. Before my eyes could adjust, I felt a weight latch onto my back. I merely frowned and remained silent while I waited for my eyes to adjust. When my eyes could take in my surroundings, I found several people giving me confused looks. It did not take a rocket scientist to know who had jumped me.

"Delilah, you're creating a scene," I told the smaller girl who had hitched a piggy back ride while I wasn't paying attention. A part of me wondered if she had been waiting outside the forge for me. When she had jumped on, I had reflexively put my arms around her thighs to support her weight on my back. I merely glanced at the smiling girl before heaving her along with me towards the village well where I was planning on drawing some water.

"It's fine, Tush!" she said, enjoying the free ride. I felt her arms go around my neck and tighten slightly, though not enough to halt the flow of air through my windpipe. You know, if it weren't for her appearance, you wouldn't be able to tell that she came from noble blood. She normally acted quite differently from most girls in the higher social class. I was not ashamed to say I might have had a hand in her personality as she was growing up. Her current blue dress was too clean to be that of a commoner though and her skin was almost perfect. There were no blemishes and could be compared to that of a newborn. Like everything else, her chocolate brown hair was well kept and clean. She looked like the perfect princess. I felt her shift nervously before she spoke up again. "I heard about your parents."

"Most already have," I mused to myself. Delilah bopped the side of my head with the palm of her soft hands. "What?"

"How can you act so calm? Have you even eaten these last few days?!" she growled. I turned towards her, slightly amused at the worry on her face. "Don't look at me like that! This is serious! Where are you even staying? Have you been sleeping on the streets?!"

I winced at the volume of her voice, seeing as she was right next to my ear. I didn't answer though while I took a step off the road to let a wagon cart pass by us. After seven years, Korcha really had grown quite a bit. At least thirty new personalities had moved here to try and set up a trade. It wasn't a bad idea, seeing as Korcha was faring better than the northern populace where a wild fire had taken out a large portion of the crops. The north, being so dependent on those crops, took a major hit and ended up having major food shortages. I was just glad we got a large supply of our own food from the ocean and traders.

I passed by the tavern where a group of hunters were sitting around an outside table sharing stories. One of the gruffer men glared at me with narrowed eyes as I carried Delilah passed them. I watched him look to his fellow hunters and begin whispering. I knew they were talking about my situation. Of course I could not care any less.

The residents of Korcha began to view more with more distaste as of late. Most of them thought I was nothing more than a disobedient brat who thought himself more than he really was. Maybe I was just that, but it didn't mean I couldn't do my own things. They could not stop me from going into Loch anymore and what I did was my own decision. I could probably even leave the village itself if I wanted to, though that would likely lead to a painful death by either bandits or starvation.

"So what happened last Sunday, Delilah? I missed you at church," I asked her. The girl jerked slightly as if she had been falling asleep and coughed to herself.

"W-well you see my parents were summoned by the King himself and had to ride to Eastern Territories, so I didn't have anyone to take me," she replied softly. I felt she was hiding something else, but decided against pressing her further for answers. Instead I asked something else that was still relevant.

"Then who brought you this time?"

"Ah, well you're about to meet her in a bit if you keep heading this way," she said, extending her arm so that it was it was besides my head. Her finger was aimed directly towards the well. "She said she would wait for me there, though I do not believe she likes it here. She's quite uptight about dirt."

"I thought all girls were," I teased before feeling another smack against my skull. "Though I don't think I should be calling an adult a mere girl."

"Oh but she is a girl!"

"Pardon?" I scoffed. I heard Delilah giggle from behind my head before she rested her chin atop of my head. "She's not an adult?"

"She's only two years older than us."

"And she's the only one supervising you?!" I exclaimed in shock. With so many bandits running amok in Alkaline these days and the distance between Korcha and the Corchet Manor, it would be quite dangerous and utterly _stupid_ to have just two small girls travelling alone. "Surely you had an escort?"

"Oh, we had Williston!" she tried to assure me.

"Williston?"

"Oh yes! He's the third born son in the Mulwacht House. He's been staying with us for the last week," Delilah explained eagerly and with no regard for proper manners of a lady. If only her mother could see Delilah now. The seizure she would have would be quite the sight. "Oh there they are now! Cecily, I brought a friend!"

I spotted a rather tall looking girl in a grey dress with bright blonde hair. She appeared rather uncomfortable with her current setting. If the way she was trying not to step in anything on the gravel paths said anything, then it was the way she grimaced at the sight of Delilah Corchet riding atop of a seemingly random peasant boy. I could tell I was going to have a blast messing with her.

There was another boy who appeared our age as well. Just like Delilah and this Cecily girl, his clothing was finely tailored and high standard. There was no visible dirt on his attire and his bright brown hair was combed back and held up with what I could guess was a sort of gel. At his side I eyed a sheathed saber. I don't think kids our age should already be wielding blades, but maybe that was the norm for aristocrats. The boy was tall but not more so than me and he was quite slim in his suit or… whatever that thing he wore was called. It looked similar to an officer's uniform for the Confederate's during the American Civil War.

"Please don't tell me you asked the first person you came across for a free ride," the tall girl sighed when the pair noticed us approaching. Williston gave a surprised scoff before shaking his head. "You find this amusing?"

"A bit, my lady," the boy replied before glancing at me.

"A proper lady should _not_ be hitching rides on street urchins! Delilah, what would your mother think?!" Cecily stated before shifting her glare to me. I looked back with mostly disinterest.

"Cecily! Tush is a long time friend! He isn't just a mere _street urchin_!" Delilah shot back, slightly offended that one of her friends had just been insulted. I would be lying I said that it didn't feel nice that someone cared enough.

"Well _technically_ I am a street urchin since my pa-"

 _Thwap!_

"Well it seems like you and Lady Delilah are quite familiar with each other," Williston stepped in. I could tell the boy was trying not to snicker at the red mark left behind by Delilah's attack. With one hand still holding onto Delilah, I extended a handshake. A moment later, Williston had his white gloved fingers wrapped around mine as we shook. "So am I right in assuming the main reason Delilah dragged us out here was to visit you?"

"I would think so, seeing as she visits me every week and missed me last Friday," I chuckled nervously. Delilah brought her face forwards so her head was right besides mine with a goofy smile.

"It's like a tradition!" she stated boldly. Cecily rolled her eyes before turning to me so she could better examine my attire. When she spotted numerous cuts that had been stitched up by my own handiwork, it became apparent she really did not like me.

"It seems like your _friend_ here has been in numerous tussles. Don't tell me your friend is a delinquent!"

"I'm anything you want me to be, sugar," I shot back slyly while stealing a slight accent used in southern U.S. Cecily's expression looked absolutely scandalized while she turned heel and left. It took quite a bit not to snort out in laughter. I felt Delilah growl from behind me in annoyance. "What?"

"She may be a stick in the mud, but you don't need to antagonize her like that!"

"I'll have you know that _she_ initiated it," I said dryly before dropping the girl suddenly. She was thankfully able to land on her feet in the dirt. I heard her whimper as I approached the well where a bucket was waiting. Williston had taken a seat next to the bucket and grinned to me as I lowered the container into the well. "So is there anything specific you needed of me?"

"I wouldn't know," Williston answered. "I'm sure Delilah would better answer hat."

"Ah yes!" Delilah shot before she was suddenly at my side with an excited grin forming on her facial features. She placed her hands behind her back and bit her lower lip nervously. I found a tint of red on her cheeks as she prepared her request. "With my parents-

"Lord and lady Corchet," Williston interrupted.

"-out of town, I'm sure they'd have no misgivings with me inviting a friend over!"

"I'm sure they wouldn't!" I said sarcastically when I felt the rope attached to the bucket tighten. A second later and I were drawing the bucket back up with the lever. "I don't think any of your servants would take kindly to my presence. That Cecily girl seems to already have it out for me."

"Don't be silly! I can order them to deal with you!" Delilah said before puffing her cheeks out in irritation.

"I don't think that's the… _Agh…_ point," I grunted. I finished drawing the water and carried out a water filled bucket. I was planning on taking a large gulp until I realized something drastically off about the coloration of the liquid. My expression solemnly dropped into a deadpan. "Who the hell _shit_ in the well?"

Williston guffawed at my statement before examining the water. A moment later and he was spouting like a fountain of shits and giggles.

I'd heard people did this back then in Europe from somewhere. I'd always thought it was just a dramatic lie, but now I realize that they do it here. That's absolutely disgusting. I promptly grabbed the bucket and lobbed it back into the well. With a shiver, I turned to Delilah who was still waiting for my answer.

"Okay I'll stop by later today," I said. The next thing I knew, the girl had tackled me in an excited hug. I heard her squeal in glee. "You can't possibly be _that_ excited about this. I'm just visiting your house!"

Williston grimaced and scratched the back of his neck.

"If you want to stop by, you should travel with us right now. It's quite dangerous crossing that distance alone," the boy warned. I narrowed my eyes at him as I crossed my arms. "What?"

"Yes, like three other kids will be much better," I spat with a shake of my head. "I'll be fine, though I recommend you three get home before it gets dark. Don't want you to miss supper now would we?"

"Ah yes! Cecily! Our supper is going to get cold by now!" Williston called to the other girl who was waiting under a tree impatiently. Williston quickly grinned at me deviously. "Pleasure to meet you… ah?"

"Tush!" Delilah cheered.

"Tusk…" I groaned before rubbing my eyes. "Just like… go."

* * *

[One hour later]

My crude iron pickaxe slammed against another pocket of iron ore. The spider web of cracks forming on the brownish raw metal shattered the entire pocket into smaller shards which promptly disappeared into nothingness. Just like the many previous others, the ore appeared in my inventory. Turning around, I examined my handiwork for the past three days I had been exploring the abandoned iron mine nearby Korcha.

There were numerous spots lining the cavern where I had removed pockets of iron ore from their resting place and numerous support beams had been emplaced by myself and workers from years ago. I had relit the numerous hanging lanterns left behind and had even retrieved numerous crates from the deeper sectors of the mine. Generally, they were filled with raw iron. Maybe there were a few pickaxes and shovels here and there, but most of them were in extremely poor condition.

The sections closer to the exit were already stripped bare by the previous miners. That meant I needed to go much deeper before I could start finding iron. Lucky for me, this mining operation had only gone for about three years and so they'd left behind quite a number of ores in this deposit. I really don't understand why this was abandoned in the first place. There was plenty or metal to collect and whoever ran this operation could've made a hefty profit from what was left behind.

From what I'd heard about this mine from those in Korcha, the man running the mine had suddenly pulled back all his assets and left the village without an explanation. Those who were old enough to remember, claim that he had seemed like he was running away from something. Most people thought one of his workers had died and he'd been trying to cover it up. It was a plausible theory, but not exactly easily proven. I was hoping that whatever happened here wouldn't hinder my progress as I harvest as many resources as I could. Already breaking passed my second stack of iron ore, I found that I could possibly start crafting armor for myself as well. It would give me a chance to see how the crafting system worked with fitting a person's size.

"Huh?" I mumbled when I spotted a small pocket if iron ore I had missed further behind me. I slowly approached it and got to work with removing the ore. It was no surprise to me that I had so easily missed it. I was not really focused and was actually rushing to get things done. I had planned to head over to the Corchet manner once I had collected my third stack. I was not exactly worried about bandits as the sun was still up. I was hoping to accomplish my quota before the next hour ended so I would reach the manor before nightfall. I was not a big fan of being caught on the blind side by highwaymen.

I was not worried about travelling back to Korcha though. By now, sleeping outside was the normal for me. I doubted Corchet Knights would mind me sleeping outside their gates and the bandits would have to be pretty ballsy to attack me with trained swordsman on guard. I had plenty of food, and I was cleaning water from the river instead of drawing from the well now. Pretty soon, the villagers would also be forced to find a new way to draw water due to the contamination of the current well. If I remembered correctly, there was another well being constructed on the other end of the village that was never finished. They could easily pop the lid on that one and erect a new one.

The guy who jacked up the current one is still an ass.

I had already started up a furnace and had stuck to using charcoal as my main source of fuel. Unlike Minecraft, distribution of ores weren't spread all over terrain equally. I would need to locate a coal deposit to actually start harvesting them. Until then, I would stick to charcoal and organic fuels. Luckily for me, the furnace also provided warmth in the night. All I had to do was access the furnace menu and the fire would ignite from seemingly nowhere.

I had also tried making a torch with the charcoal. Surprisingly, I found that it was a torch that only ignited once I placed it down or willed it to. The torch did not burn out for some reason but I could also light other things aflame like the oil lamps. I had to give special care to not light the support beams up like the fourth of July.

The last of the iron ore was removed and revealed an unusual sight to me. With a frown, I brushed my hand against the hard surface and felt the dirt move under my hands. Rubbing the dirty annoyance away, a set of stone brick walling revealed itself. The stone brick's were obviously ancient if the cracks and moss growing in it told me anything. I would also be a fool to not search further into this.

Equipping my iron pick once more, I began chipping away at the wall of stone and dirt covering the peculiar structure. When enough stone bricks were revealed, I began digging away at the structure itself. I was guessing by now that there was a room on the other side of this wall. If there was, then I would be the first in a long time to figure out what the hell this was doing here in the first place. This looked older than the mine so no way the miners left it behind. Had they missed this thing entirely?

I removed a big enough gap in the brick wall for myself to slip through when suddenly aged dust fumed out into my face. The putrid smell entered my nostrils and I instantly felt my eyes tearing up. Think of it similar to getting onions in your retinas. Covering my eyes with my sleeve and coughing heavily, I waited for the storm to settle before glancing inside. The light from the lanterns nearby were positioned only enough to reveal a portion of the floorings inside. Everything else was shrouding in eerie pitch black darkness. Calling forth a torch, I stepped through the hole and ignited the flame.

The darkness vanished and the entire room made itself known to me.

This was a stronghold as most would expect of underground structure made of stone bricks. If my assessment was correct, then this place would be structured more like a labyrinth or maze of sorts. Instead though, it was only one room connected to a long aged hall. If there was an entire complex, then I had just entered through a dead end portion and the rest lay ahead. Around me lay what looked like old beds which had fallen apart with age. The scattered assortments of random trinkets led me to believe that people had lived here before. Nothing on the ground piqued my interest, as most of them appeared to be toys more than anything. Toys… children lived here once.

That was strange, I did not remember strongholds generating with living quarters back in the game. The most prominent rooms you would think of when exploring a stronghold would be a library, prison cells, and the most important End Portal frame. When activated, the portal would take you to the End where a dark dragon would be found perched across another deactivated portal frame. To escape the dimension, you would need to slay the dragon which would promptly open two separate portals. One would lead back to the Overworld or the normal realm. The other would lead to the rest of the end realm where you could raid End Cities and explore a barren landscape.

I wonder if there was also a portal frame here too.

With my torch in one hand and a pickaxe in the other, I left the room and marched down the hall towards the other end. It was nothing but aging stone bricks. The roofing, the floors, and the walls were just stone bricks. It looked boring really. Except despite the dull appearance, it felt like something else. It almost felt… dead you could say. The thudding of my boots on the hard surface floor made me silently want to grimace. I don't know why but it felt like I should've been sneaking about in this obviously abandoned complex. What was there to hide from anyways?

 _Crunch!_

I glanced down in surprise when I found my foot half buried in something. When I bent down to examine the object, I found it to actually be an old iron helmet. The metal armor piece, obviously withered in age, collapsed into dust upon contact with my fingers. Half of it had already disintegrated when my foot had impacted. My eyes followed a trail of dust and made a startling discovery.

It looked as if an entire set of armor had laid here once as if slumped against the wall. Obviously the armor, despite being forged of hard metal, had fallen apart with age. I was beginning to forge an idea that a number of the former occupants never actually left this stronghold.

A few steps later I found another outline of human remains. This time, he had been wearing chainmail armor. What stood out more than anything was the fact that the helmet had been smashed so hard into the stone brick wall that it'd blown a crater. The helmet still remained lodged in the wall and I could easily imagine the fate of the man who had been so brutality killed.

So what _had_ killed him?

Continuing down the hall soon became comparable to a horror movie. There were just more remains and it became apparent to me that there had been a fight that had taken place here. What really intrigued me was the fact that the bodies all belonged to seemingly one faction. I didn't see any distinct differences in the armor variation, though any that did might've existed withered away with age. From what I could tell, these may have been here for more than a few centuries or so. Metal doesn't disintegrate into dust like that if were relatively fresh. Hell even most of the skeletons were gone by now.

Wait metal disintegrating? Iron turning to dust? Iron shouldn't be able to do that. If iron were so then I'd guess that this had to have exceeded thousands of years No! That didn't make sense though. If they had equipment like this, I would've expected technological advancement by now. Except the land of today was still in the exact same stage as these remains seemed to be. Was Alkaline in some sort of technological standstill for the past several thousand years? Even then, I don't remember iron having the ability to just… fall apart like _this_ with age.

At the end of the hall I came upon a familiar sight. Near the back of the hall I could see the light was lit from the scorching lava pools that were filling the side containers made of hardened material. The fact that the lava had yet to spill out or even cool down was a mystery. I could not pick out any sort of source of heat that kept the magma from reverting into a solid state. In the center were the main pool of lava and a set of stone brick stairs that made what looked like a diving board for the liquefied rock? If I hadn't known better, I would've thought that maybe the previous inhabitants threw sacrifices in here.

I _did_ know better of course.

There was supposed to be an end portal frame, but what I saw wasn't exactly supposed to be like this.

Floating above the lava lake, suspended by a force of nature that defied even gravity, were the shattered remains of what was supposed to be an end portal frame. I could even pick out several eyes of ender floating around the debris. There were even a few normal ender pearls mixed into the bunch. The shards spouted what could be described as a purple electrical current that zapped at nearby shards, almost as if it were desperately trying to pull itself back together. Maybe it was.

This wasn't right. Portal frames to The End were meant to be indestructible. What the hell kind of force could've done such a thing? In fact, why would he or she do so? What was the benefit of cutting these former occupants from The End?

I glanced back and grimaced. Behind me, what appeared to be a wooden cross was nailed up above the entry way I had entered from. There was a very dull tint of red matting the ends where nails told me easily that someone had come here, killed the occupants off, and then toyed with their bodies. Whoever had been hung up there had already decayed and withered away into dust. Could it have been an entire attack force or was it just one person? Better yet, it was obvious whoever raided this stronghold had also managed to break the unbreakable. That must've taken immense power.

I reached over the edge of the lava pool and snagged one of the Ender Pearls. Rubbing my thumb over the surface, I found the object to be cool to the touch. Ender pearls were extremely useful to get out of a bind or send an enemy into one. Their main purpose was teleportation through the act of throwing them. At the price of your health per usage, you were warped to wherever your ender pearl smashed against. Their only other use was to create Eyes of Ender which were used to locate and activate the End Portal.

Reaching in every time an Ender Pearl of Eye of Ender floated by, I snagged up every single one. I did not plan on using them really, but more to keep them until they could be used to possibly activate another portal frame or maybe research. The only way to acquire these was to slay an Endermen which were notorious for teleporting behind you when they were in their hostile mode.

I was hesitant about taking them. I had a feeling that whoever had raided these occupants didn't want people accessing the End. I was possibly making myself a target by possessing key components. Except this were ages ago. There was no way whoever had done this was still alive! If it were some sort of ancient civilization, then they either died out or their ancestors would no longer even remember this place! I mean it was buried underground and hadn't been accessed for centuries.

Except maybe by those miners.

A chill went down my spine when I remembered the stories of how the owner of the mining operation had so eagerly fled the scene. Had they discovered this place and covered it up? No, there weren't any other access ways I could find from the mine. They'd likely known this place was here and had been searching for it. They hadn't found it but something had spooked them real bad.

Something else was still here and the owner had hauled ass when he realize the threat…

After I had shifted the last of the pearls into my inventory, I pulled one out and glanced at the reflective surface once more to get a glean of my own image. What I did not expect was the visual behind me. I could see, directly down the dark corridor where my torch was out of range, a pair of glowing white specs. As well as the new presence came the ominous aura of death and destruction heading my way.

Summoning my pickaxe in a last ditch attempt, I swung backwards and deflected a bloodied iron sword as what felt and appeared to be a ghost slammed into me. The head of my pick shattered instantly upon impact and the force threw me against the crumbling walls of the portal room. The air left my lungs and I began to cough desperately for air. The wall cratered in with spider web cracks splintering across the structure. I could tell the support of the room would not last.

That blow had shredded through over two hundred points of durability. Nothing was supposed to do more than one point. If this _thing_ could blow through that much durability in one blow, then he could probably shred an end portal frame without a sweat.

The figure in front of me was by no means human. He looked human but you would be a fool to not notice the white eyes glowing like a candle. Yet that candle would provide no warmth like his eyes did. They were cold and dead, haunting to the fullest. His skin was tanned and a green ragged shirt made it appear as if he had been in numerous battles without rest. Messy dark hair and plain blue jeans reminded me of the modern attire of America. The sword in his hands was forged from iron, that much was for certain, but the blood stained upon it and the seemingly undeniable aura of killing intent radiating off of it told me simply one thing.

That sword was meant to kill me, and it sure as hell wasn't an ordinary blade either.

Most of us on Willenskraft read update notes almost religiously to spot any new details added into the game. One thing that stood out the most was the single note at the end of each page stating a simple fact.

-Removed Herobrine-

"I'll be fucking damned," I muttered as I stared the demon in the face. The stories were true then. At least in these lands they were. The panic that swelled in my mind washed away instantly and the gears in my head began to spin rapidly.

A slight shock of pain brought my attention to my lower abdomen. There I found blood slowly seeping out of the small cut. It was not deep in any way and a mere half a heart had disappeared off my bar. What really stood out was that it bled and kept bleeding. I waited, expecting for that health to reappear slowly and the wound to seal up but it never did so. That's how his sword was different. Or maybe it was just the attacker itself. Regeneration could be negated.

I was going against something far more powerful then I would ever be. This _thing_ was an entity, something not supposed to be killable. If it weren't killable, then I had one option left. Run like the miners had years ago. Retreat like a coward.

The story of Herobrine was a strange one that I never really looked into despite being a long time player of the game. What I had heard though, was that he was apparently the dead brother of the creator of the game. From what I had been told, there had been proof after proof pulled up that showed there he was nothing more than a five year old child's rambling. I took it as a lie as well.

So without much of a choice, I brought forth a hardened pickaxe now that my crude was obliterated and pulled an Ender Pearl out in the other. Demon ghost creature that can shatter my tools with a single strike, massacre and entire armed stronghold, possibly un-killable, and likely the brother of a god versus a mere boy with a few extra years of displaced memories and video game powers.

I liked my odds.

Silently cursing myself for not equipping myself with any type of weapon besides a shoddy hunter's knife which I had stolen _years_ ago, I drew my arm back around and threw the ender pearl…

* * *

 **AN:** This is of course the chapter were I begin to introduce the conflict of the story. The game of Minecraft is meant to be an open world where everything is up to you. Because of that, you really do not have a main enemy. Though this Herobrine fellow is obviously just a lame attempt at people to gain attention on the internet by claiming they've met him, I still found the idea of his existence intriguing. There's a lot that can be done to expand upon his profile and I felt he'd be a perfect entity to make into a sort of possibly unbeatable antagonist for Tusk. Of course, as one of my reviewers had pointed out, his current persona on the average Fanfiction is less then adequate. I found that most stories I could find that would use him don't really portray him as a real haunting enemy. This could lead to some bias, but I do hope to break that and actually give him the proper character develop to make him a true enemy.

Will he be used throughout the story? No. This story is not exactly a one-conflict story. It will have numerous adventures, enemies, and allies that don't all stick to one setting. Herobrine is not meant to be the **main antagonist** nor will there really be one at all. He is there to give support to a plotline which I am setting up and you will discover as the story progresses.

I also changed the second story genre to Romance. Most of you would automatically guess that I would put the main character with a certain hyperactive girl, but there _might_ be a twist on that coming up next chapter. I'm also not going to completely just cut out his parents from the story. They are his parents after all and they still play a role later on.


	5. Chapter 5: Greetings Old Man!

**AN:** I had a hellishly good laugh trying to remember what I was thinking when writing this back when I first this story. I revised and added so much that I simply doubled the chapter length. I don't believe I even proof read this one, not that I did this time either. Author's Note will be at the end concerning more detailed matters! Reviews are a nice thing too by the way and as always I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Garrosh was getting too old for his body at the age of sixty. Holding the title of a Master Swordsman, it had been his duty and his desire to pass on his skill and knowledge to someone else. At his age, he'd thought he'd already find someone by now. Living in the Corchet Manor had been a chance to maybe pass it on to noble blood. Not many commoners were eager to learn swordplay or dedicate fully to training. When he was invited humbly to train the first and second born son's of the Corchet House, he thought he'd finally be able to begin.

He was wrong of course.

The boy, Lachnet Corchet was a snake if anything. He was a brat, rude, showed no sign of respect to others who were below his blood. When Lachnet had learnt the Master Swordsman was actually a commoner himself, the boy had out rightly hurled a fury of insults at the old man. Garrosh did not take kindly to that of course. So he promptly refused to teach the boy. Moving on to the second born was Bachten. Unlike his brother, he was quiet and not as boisterous. In the end though, he could not be taught. The boy was more eager to read a book then learn how to do a proper stab with a saber.

Then came the Williston boy of the Mulwacht house. He was already skilled in the basics of using a sword, and was determined to learn more if Garrosh agreed to train him. The only issue was that the boy simply did not have time. He had been sent to the Garrosh manor to learn and become accustomed to royal politics. That meant he had other duties then mere swordplay.

Garrosh was an odd fellow himself anyways. He didn't participate in many social events with the rest of the servants of commoners who worked around the manor. He always seemed to be in his room working on something. What caught most off guard was his sense of… maturity. It most likely came from age but most found it to be unusually dark. No one really knew his past nor did the aging man ever really think of talking about it.

One thing that stood out though, was that he seemed to be very paranoid.

When the dark fog rolled in suddenly, Garrosh seemed unusually alarmed. He had even gone as far as to request the perimeter guards to light the torch posts. His reason was that it was to scare of bandits who would use the fog as a cover to raid the manor. The captain of the guard had no reason to deny his that request. They got along well anyways. What was even more surprising was that the man seemed… scared slightly? It was as if he expected something to come from the fog.

What was even more shocking was that despite this fear, he grabbed his trusty long sword, pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of the main gates. In his hands was a bottle of wine that he sipped every so often. When a guard had asked him what he was going, he had replied very ominously.

"Sometimes you can embrace death like an old friend," he'd said between his drinking. When the guard had reported this to the captain of the guard who happened to be in the nearby presence of Delilah and Williston, the two became very worried. Delilah had found a friend in Garrosh after realizing he was one of the few who would actually put up and listen to her rambling, much like Tusk did. What kind of person would she be if she didn't worry about her friends?

Delilah had rushed out of the manor and hugged the swords master tightly, believing him to be under a sort of depression or maybe even dying. The man was slightly stricken for worrying the girl, but something else caught his notice. He suddenly stood up with a hand going for the sword leaned against the chair he had been resting in. Before Delilah could even ask what was going on, one of the gate guards had grabbed her and pulled her back away from the gates, concerned with her safety. She kicked and struggled but could only watch as Master Garrosh ordered the men to be put on high alert.

Word quickly spread throughout that something dangerous was about to happen, but no one really knew what was going on. All they knew was something had Garrosh on his toes. That alone was something to be reckoned with as not many others ever caught him showing negative emotions very often. The only issue was that no one could ask him what was going on. He'd rushed into the fog not long after he'd commanded the soldiers to be ready. Someone could've sworn that he was charging towards some sort of pair of white specs, shrouded by the dark fog.

* * *

"Thirty seven," I counted the seconds before I felt a familiar chill run down my spine, like cold iced water showering my. No matter how much distance I put between us, he always caught up by thirty seven seconds. It made me tremble when I limped past the last support beam before the mineshaft sloped upwards towards the surface. I could see the light lightly pouring in through the entrance like god rays. It looked heavenly, almost as if it were my safe haven. Maybe it was.

I turned around and saw the demon trudging through the long cavern-like corridor, his iron sword dragging against the stone flooring. I watched a sort of orange sparks ignite out of the edge that was in contact with the stone. Behind him, darkness swirled around like a snake poised to strike at me. He was taking his time, carefully or maybe just lazily. I could not tell for the only hint of emotion on his face was the grin plastered on his face.

Bringing out an axe and one of the [Ender Pearls] I had snagged. I had no way of knowing how damage from using the teleportation gear would distribute. Would it just make me bleed out of my nose or would a slash appear on my skin?

I aimed up and flung the dark green pearl as hard as I could. I had an unnatural ability when it came to physical strength, throwing and punching being one of them. I watched the pearl disappear out through the cave exit before I took the axe and slammed it into the nearest support beam. Dirt and loose rocks collapsed from the blow as I swung the axe again and made another strike. Soon, the entire beam was covered in cracks and I harvested the section into my inventory. Immediately, the entire support it held up collapsed inwards like a child's block structure. I got a good glimpse at Herobrine's grin as the entire mineshaft caved in on top of us.

My third [Ender Pearl] I had used, two being utilized to cross the distance within the iron mine, impacted and warped me face first into a tree. Blood shot out of my arm as the bones snapped instantly, but not from the tree impact. I fell back with a cry of pain before turning behind me. I couldn't even see the mine entrance anymore. A deep fog rolled through the forest, like tendrils with a mind of its own crawling over the roots and leaves. The chill pulsating over my skin was not a normal. I knew exactly where the ominous feeling came from.

My health seemed to drop two points every time I use the pearls. With my current clothing filtering in as armor and providing armor points, I suspected that it may have been higher. At first I would've thought my armor would provide me with the same bonus as regular leather armor, but I was wrong. The key things I noticed were the fact that my clothes held a quality of being [Hard Strewn]. As such, the normal [76/80], [71/57] and [60/65] for my tunic, pants and boots were boosted [100+ durability]. With no leather cap, I would get six points in armor in the normal game. Being [Hard Strewn] gave me eight which, although not really good, was still an appreciated bonus.

Pushing myself up against the tree, I stuffed an apple into my mouth to allow my arm wound to regenerate. Adrenaline surged in and out of my heart, practically deafening any other sound compared to the constant thumping. Two [Ender Pearls] left and they would only hurt me more. I had Eyes of Ender but what the hell would they do?

A pair of white glowing orbs in the distant fog began to form off on my far right. The thing was, the iron mine was on my left and I had made sure no normal being could walk out. This was no normal being of course. I sucked up the pain in my still damaged limb and shoved my way up from the ground. Throwing another pearl into the air, I prayed I landed somewhere that wasn't against a wall or on the side of a cliff.

Before the pearl could land, the demon slung his sword forwards in a very haggard way, like he was some drunken haggard. The sword spun perfectly through the air, though. It went further to the left before it curved inwards through the grove of trees, twisting and turning through the trunks so that it would have a clear shot towards my neck. Split second decisions were all I had at the moment. Dropping to my stomach, the blade spun past me harmlessly. I watched his head, which was drooped slightly to the side; crack another haggard grin, _no an amused smile,_ before I was warped away.

I felt my body literally ripped apart to the atom, like tiny needles were being jammed into every nerve in my system. The next thing I knew, I was face down in the grass. I rolled onto my side with a wince and let a small amount of blood pool out of my gaping mouth. I was sixteen out of twenty health points down and the regeneration was slower than normally. That fucking sword had done something to me, even though it had merely grazed my torso. Regeneration of health had been nulled out for the first two minutes but it was coming back slowly. Not fast enough of course, as my arm and now my insides hurt like a bitch.

It took me a moment to register that I was shivering. I was cold yes but the shivering wasn't from the dropping temperature. Hell I was sure frost could form at this rate. What I felt was something I had not felt since I had a tree lop off my legs. I felt fear and this was nothing compared to any past experience from before. Glancing to my right, I stiffened at the sight of my newfound greatest fear leaning against a tree. He just stood there, covered by enough fog to make me doubt my eyes. He had caught up to me that quickly. No he hadn't caught up to me, he didn't need to. This wasn't catching up. This was plainly toying with me.

"Don't _fuck_ with me!" I gasped his way.

Bringing forth my [Rough Hunting Knife], I stood up in a weakened stance and prepared for a fight. I saw his infamous grin form across his tanned face as he pushed himself off the tree and continued to watch as he wobbled unsteadily. I silently prayed that he would trip and fall so that I would maybe have more time to get myself better situated. A moment later and he slung the sword at me. Flipping the knife around, I deflected the projectile and watched in horror as the knife shattered into thousands of tiny shards of metal. Bringing fourth one of my last few equipment, my [Crude Iron Shovel], I slammed the tool into the sword which had supernaturally hooked around to me again.

The durability was at [250/250]. I hadn't even gotten the chance to use the tool yet for any planned projects. Yet, I watched as the sword smashed through the shovel head and whistle passed my head. I took a few shaky breaths before putting a finger to the small cut on my right cheek. Blood drizzled from the new wound and the health regeneration came to a sudden halt once again. It took me a while but I realized it now.

I was going to die out here.

 _Think you dumb ass, what the hell do you know about your situation?_

Herobrine was his known name in the modern world. He's said to be the dead brother of Notch, the creator of the game. I need weaknesses. What are some known weaknesses about him? I'd never looked into him so I wouldn't know if he did possess any. Who said they even worked in the end? Not everything was going to be exact…. Or were they.

His sword was what I needed to watch out for. It defied natural physics by having the ability to sling through the air like a Frisbee and somehow return to the owner. It negates my regeneration and I had no idea if it could also negate other aspects of my power. His sword was matted in blood and I had a gnawing feeling that some of that blood came from the former occupants of the stronghold. This thing was likely crazy. If it wasn't then it likely didn't have desires to communicate with others. If he did then I doubt he would've stayed prowling about in that stronghold all these years. Maybe he hadn't actually. From what I've seen, he possessed supernatural abilities of transportation.

I hated admitting it but I was outclassed and outmatched. All I was doing right now was listing every advantage _he_ had.

"Alright you fucking demon spawn," I growled over to him. "If you're after my sexy ass… I'm sorry to disappoint but I don't swing th-

 _Thumk!_

Instantly, I felt his fist jam into my diaphragm below my sternum. The region right below the ribs being one of the normal weak points of the body, I felt the air fly out of my lungs. With no time to even recover I felt hands go around my arm and a single boot jammed into my crotch. The force slammed me into a tree where I quickly re-organized my stance. Instantly, Herobrine was a mere foot away from me. I threw a quick punch and watched in horror while my hand phased through his body. I drew back quickly when I realized my mistake.

His very solid fist caught my throat and my airway blocked up instantly. Another hand wrapped around my abused throat and slammed me into the tree. I heard the tree bark splinter behind me from the force and watched my health drop another point, reaching the halfway mark. His second hand soon joined in, adding to the weight crushing my throat. Immediately I began to thrash and kick as the strangling began.

" _Sckh!"_ I seethed from the lack of breath. Two sharp pains entered my legs and my entire health bar dropped to a mere four points. I was barely able to glance down at my legs to see the blood seeping out of the wounds where a pair of small dagger remained imbedded in each thigh. They were barely larger than six inches but what caught my ire was that his hands were still wrapped around my throat. He'd stabbed me from absolutely nothing. He did not need a free hand to use weapons.

I realized as well he was trapping me. I could no longer run away if I escaped with wounded legs.

I brought out my last tool, the [Crude Iron Axe] I had knocked the mineshaft supports out with and desperately swung at his arms. It merely distorted his appearance. Just like my punch, my axe just mixed him up as if here were a mere image made of mist. I dropped the axe in pain when his hands tightened even more. I felt my neck on the verge of snapping. Panic rose once more, clouding my thoughts. I could feel whatever it was that kept my negative emotions in check failing, likely another one of my powers being negated. My eyes scanned my inventory and found nothing but useless shit I had accumulated in the forest believing they'd come into use at some point.

My health dropped to three points when my vision became blurry. The lack of oxygen was already clouding my mind. My thrashing became weakened and at some point I felt a thought enter what little conscious I had. It was a distinct memory. I saw Delilah's face with a big grin and her hands behind her back as she was shifting nervously on her feet.

 _"_ _I'm sure they'd have no misgivings inviting a friend over!"_

A friend… I made a promise to a friend.

With one last gasp, I stared the demon in the face with more rage then fear, a sudden burst of adrenaline as I began throwing everything I had in my inventory at him. Herbs, sticks, hell even some of my maps were flung into his face and phased right through him.

" _Fch….. Ynn!"_ I attempted to curse, watching my health drop down with only two points left. The health bar was now quivering, trying to warn me that I was dying. I could've sworn I saw Herobine… through my arms for a moment and I forgot what or who I was that at that moment. Maybe the lack of oxygen was getting to me. I just felt weird and…

And then I was dropped to the ground. When my knees hit the ground, I immediately sucked in as much oxygen as I could. Not long after, vomit spewed into the grass below me. The bitter taste remained in my mouth as I looked up in surprise.

Herobrine, no longer had a grin on his face. It wasn't fear, mind you. I doubted he felt fear. It was in fact just mere surprise. It was like someone had just given him a present. I had surprised him, and I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. What I did know was he saw me as entertainment.

What I did know was that I was fucking pissed.

This power I had made me stronger. I am supposed to be the strongest, not this _thing_ in front of me.

"Fuck….. **_you!_** " I roared and I leapt forwards on my shredded legs.

 _I was supposed to be invincible. I could lose entire limbs and re-grow them in a matter of seconds._

A foot slammed into my gut, knocking me backwards. The blood dripping off of my body made me look like I was actually sweating the red liquid. I swung my arms back, slinging dirty blood all over the grass as I forced myself forwards again.

 _I could punch through walls, I could smash through trees, and I could shatter your bones in a single strike with my bare hands._

My fists flew through his body like an illusion, as if he was not even there. A quick jab struck me in the spine and I felt my entire body go numb temporarily. Another strike to the back of my head and my eyes dimmed slightly. It was like someone had turned out the lights. When my face hit the terrain, I winced at the tiny blades still imbedded in my legs.

When I finally found the energy to push myself up from the ground, I noticed my axe I had dropped lying before me.

 _I could create weapons, tools, or maybe even weapons of mass destruction in seconds. A sword that could take a blacksmith half a day to make, I could spit out by the hundreds. A house that could take weeks or even months to erect, I could build in a day._

I yanked the axe up and swung backwards where I knew Herobrine stood. I watched the axe head shatter instantly upon contact with a certain bloodied iron sword; the stick flying aimlessly passed his head.

I was supposed to be prepared to take on anything…

 _So why am I so fucking useless…I_

"Heathen!" I heard someone roar, the voice sounded haggard and aged but even I could hear the commanding tone behind it. A dark outline of another figure appeared in the fog with a soft light shining from his left hand. Herobrine gave the figure a good look, no longer paying me any attention. I took that moment to gather what little strength I had and spit out a string of thoughts.

 _He's distracted!_

I wrapped a hand around each of the daggers still cutting into the edges of the wound and promptly yanked them out without really thinking through what I was doing. A scream elicited from my hoarse throat and I rolled onto my side. The ghost did not care though. I could not see very clearly but the other figure was still coming closer.

"It's been a while," the older man said, how revealing himself to be a good forty to fifty years old. He had a bright lantern in one of his hands, but it shone brightly with something most lanterns didn't have. That's right… it seemed almost ethereal. It was heavenly and I could feel the cold that shrouded my body begin to creep away.

My eyes boggled at the sight of an actual _effect_ appearing to the left of my inventory menu. It stated quite clearly [Regeneration: **:**]. The lantern was… healing me somehow. Whoever the man was, I could guess he was a friend. The cuts all over me slowly began to seal up, the wounds along my legs where the daggers had sliced into taking the longest due to how deep they were. All I really cared about was that I had more time. I hoped the fucker would be distracted enough for my legs to heal as well. Glancing up, I tried to take in as much as I could with my eyes.

The demon and the old man stared each other down, one with mere pleasant surprise and the other in heavy determination. The older man had grey hair matting his rather… intimidating facial structure. He had a patch of prickles along his chin and upper lip and his clothing weren't those of a mere commoner. They looked almost military. I wondered if he was a ranking officer. He had hard eyes though, eyes that were aged and mature.

But he knew Herobrine. He's familiar with him. If I survived this debacle, he was going to be my number one person to question. I knew nothing… and he knew at least _something_ …

To my shock and fear, Herobrine grabbed his iron sword which was lying on the grass and simply vanished in a swirl of dark smoke. I watched in a dumbfounded trance as the smoke finally dispersed entirely. He was gone; he'd just left that easily. Never had I felt such relief wash over me. With that relief, the adrenaline surge that filled me finally wore off.

My strength gave way and my face hit the soft dirt. Never had the ground felt so welcoming and a smile grew over my face. I knew I shouldn't be dropping my guard so easily. He could've come back at any time, he could just warp right here right now and slaughter me. The old man himself might even have bad intentions towards me. I just did not care. I wanted to sleep, and sleep I did. It felt like I was at peace…

* * *

Delilah stared out of her glass bedroom window in awe as the fog slowly dispersed… like a curse dispelled off the land. The sun setting in the distance was revealed and a beautiful horizon, one comparable to nothing else in the world etched upon the skyline. The orange and yellow mixed into the dark blue of the night time that was soon approaching truly created a spectacular view.

It wasn't until she noticed the figure approaching the gates that she truly grew excited. Master Garrosh, her friend, had returned alive and well. She assumed instantly that whatever baddy it was out here had been vanquished and was no match for the great man.

Excitedly, she drew away from the window seal and bounced to the doorway where she found one of the many maids waiting outside the room should she need her. Alongside her was also a pair of guards who had been placed there when the alert had been sent out. Their eyes widened in surprise as her sudden exit from her room and were too slow to grab her as she ran by quickly in her frilly blue dress. Little ten year old girls were quite slippery.

She rushed down the lush halls of the manor and quickly ran down the red carpeted stairs, only stopping briefly to grasp a handful of her large dress and pull it upwards so she would not step and trip over herself. Another servant who had a pair of towel stacks held tightly in his hands nearly fell over when she blew passed him.

"Careful, missus!" he hollered after her, but she paid him no mind. Above her hung a large grand chandelier, clearly portraying her family wealth, and the great large stained windows with images of two angels. A pair of guards had just entered the manor and were about to close the main doors, but Delilah managed to shove passed them and slip through.

The girl was met, to her horror, with quite the terrifying scene. Garrosh, her Master Swordsman was fine and well, there was not a scratch on him and he just appeared fatigued. It was who he held in his arms that made her scream in terror. Tusk lay limply within the hands of Garrosh with blood matting his chest and his legs. They were drenched to the point of the brown leather color being soaked out entirely. There was dirt matted all over his face like he'd been either in some sort of quarry or he'd been kissing the dirt recently. Maybe both.

She screamed, sprinting over and wrapping her hands around where she thought pressure was needed for a wound. Instantly she began to think the worst. Maybe he'd been harmed while travelling to her home. She should've never invited him over. It was she who put him out there in harm's way. She was the one who had done her best to convince him to come over. He was always indulging her in her wants and needs. Some could even say he spoiled her in a way different then her father. Delilah knew he would be fine with visiting.

"Peace, Young Delilah. He is fine!" Garrosh chuckled loudly. Delilah felt a tinge of rage fill her heart. How _dare_ he mock her when she was currently being presented with such a horrendous sight? "If you do not believe me, see for yourself! There are no wounds!"

The girl sucked in a breath when she realized the man was right. While there was quite a collection of red stains all over his tattered and torn clothing, there was clean skin underneath where the obvious bloodied cuts were supposed to be. It was almost like he'd taken the shirt off of a tortured man and put it on himself.

"Here," Garrosh said softly while taking one of her small hands. He pressed her hand, to her horror and reluctance, into one of the red splotched cuts along his tunic. When she felt that it was no illusion or trick of the mind, she began to calm.

"Wha… but how?"

"He was passed out on the road, miss. I happened to stumble across him," Garrosh said softly. Delilah knew when someone was lying to her, especially when things just did not add up. The Master swordsman had left and it was clear he was after something. _Something_ had come across Tusk, and _something_ out there that she didn't understand occurred. Whatever it may be, he did not want anyone to know of it. It was only because Delilah knew his actions were to protect her and everyone else that she did not outright believe him to be conspiring something vile and malicious.

Garrosh was lying, he was hiding things again. She knew it, and he knew she did.

That did not mean he had any reason to tell the truth, despite how badly she cared for her friend who she believed had been caught in the cross-fire.

"So he is fine?"

"Shaken perhaps, but yes he is fine. Now if you'd excuse me lass, it is _quite_ hard to hold up a ten year old boy for so long," he grunted. Delilah realized the strain the middle aged man must've been under, carrying a boy all the way back here by himself in his arms. "Could you call for the maids to prepare a room perhaps?"

"Ugh yes! Cecily!" Delilah called to the handmaid-in-training and also another one of her closer friends. "Is there a guest room still prepared?"

"Yes, my lady," the girl said curtly. Delilah silently bristled as she had told Cecily to use her first name. They'd been friends for over five years now. She was just glad that Cecily was acting professionally enough, seeing as the older girl did not like Tusk very much.

"Good, Garrosh I can have the servants carry him"

"That will not do, this boy is under my direct care," Garrosh stated, suddenly becoming… serious. You might even say he appeared colder. Had he found something interesting in Tusk? Perhaps he thought he could train him as a Master Swordsman. Delilah felt a bit of pride for Tusk that he may actually apprentice such a high honor. "Forgive my honesty, but whatever happens to him will be under my supervision."

"It is fine, Master Garrosh," Delilah said hastily. She was not adept to the formalities of higher standings like most of her family. She'd heard that the Northern Lords were known to execute those who disrespected them… or just because. As unbelievable as that was, she now understood that people would always shy away from nobles naturally. "U-ugh, is there anything I can do?"

"There are more than enough servants to handle the young lad. Please head to your room, Milady. You will be called when Tusk is ready for visitors." one of the older maids said. Delilah was soon ushered back into the house while a heavily armored Corchet Knight hefted the boy from Master Garrosh'es arms.

"Thank you, captain." Garrosh grunted, having expended much of his energy on his short travel. "I can tell you don't believe my story,"

The young Captain of the Guard, Captain Horace furrowed his brows while looking at the boy he now carried. His eyes ran across his bloodied tunic and leggings before the dirt that matted his face.

"It doesn't take a genius to find the blood unusual," Horace grumbled before trudging heavily into the manor. A pair of maids were standing silently and waiting inside for them. They turned on their heels and led the way in professional silence like they were trained to do since birth. "We'll talk when we get to the room and in more private settings."

"Understandable… but Captain?"

"Hmm?"

"You know what I do is not out of malice for the nobles? I took an oath to defend the lives of others, and I will continue to do so. I ask you as a friend to trust me on this and don't ask questions. There is more at stake then you realize," Garrosh sent his way. The maids leading the way stiffened slightly at the heavy tone, as was the Swords Master's skill. He had that intimidating affect on people. Horace snorted and glanced back to Garrosh.

"My duty is bound to the Corchet family, even before the King himself," the soldier stated boldly.

"Careful, if the King heard that, he would have rights to take your head off…"

"And yet he is not here," Horace finished before the maids stopped before a beautiful white door. The first remained by the door while the other pushed the door open into the room. Inside was a lush circular room with two tall windows lined up besides each other and a circle stand in between. On the other side of the room lay a king sizes bed, one that would be more than enough to hold a mere young boy. Blue curtains were draped across the walls and a chandelier smaller then the main room overhang hung in the center of the room. There were a few other furniture pieces resting in other locations along the walls but they were not of much importance as Horace laid the boy upon the silky sheets softly.

Both men had to admit, it was quite the contradiction seeing such a ragged and battered appearance lain upon such extravagant bed sheets. The dirt brown and now red smudged attire didn't exactly fit in with the blue and white room.

The maids attempted to tend to the boy with the usual training of cleaning down his face with a rag and making as much of Tusk presentable as they could, but Garrosh held an arm out before them. When they gave him a questioning look, he let out a sigh.

"Leave us, I will tend to the boy personally," he told them. Bowing quickly, both women grabbed their rags and cleaning equipment before leaving. The Swords Master then glanced to Captain Horace who had taken to leaning against the door post. "That means you too."

"No, we are going to have a talk."

" _Later_ ," Garrosh grunted.

"Right," the man replied before pulling the white door shut behind him. Just like that, Garrosh was alone with Tusk.

The middle aged man pulled a chair out from under a nearby desk and pulled it up to the bedside. With a loud huff, he planted his aging body into the wooden chair and watched the slumbering boy with seemingly disinterest. A few seconds passed of just the old man listening to his breathing before he finally spoke.

"You're not fooling anyone," he told the boy.

* * *

"You're not fooling anyone," I heard the man state. I cracked a right eye open and glanced at the man now seated at my bed side.

"Shame, this bed is quite nice. I'd appreciate getting a few hours of sleep here," I said calmly before pushing myself up without a single hint of pain of fatigue from my earlier incident. I quickly did a self-check on every cut I could find on my body. My legs did not ache in the least. If the signs torn and soaked into my clothing had not been there, I would've doubted whether I had really been injured at all. I would need to fetch another set again. "Though I guess that means we get to shoot each other with questions, hmm?"

The man glared at me before pulling away from the bed. He turned around with his hands clasped behind his back and approached the window near the edge of the room. His blue officer uniform or whatever it was had not a single scratch compared to my tattered and bloodied tunic. I was really out of place here, with such lavish luxuries surrounding me. To be fair, I didn't see anything wrong with being here. It was quite nice. Delilah would probably offer me a room here now that I think about it.

"Master Garrosh," the man stated.

"What?"

"That is my name and title. Garrosh Everton is my given name. While I may wear a fancy uniform and surround myself in high society, I am a commoner through blood and law…" he introduced himself. When he went silent at the end, I realized he expected me to return the custom and introduce myself.

"Tusk Rayon, I suppose I am just a mere commoner like you," I said. The master let out an undignified snort before turning to face me. Momentarily, I felt myself flinch from his cold gaze.

"A mere commoner? I'm to believe a mere commoner actually gained the attention of the demon?"

"A demon? Do you know what he's call-

"Oh I know much more than you think," he spat, waving his hands in the air before pulling out an old lantern. I recognized it as the one that he had carried out into the fog with him. I watched him plant the rusty object on a nearby table before turning to me. "How much do _you_ know?"

"I know that I'm wasting time sitting here. If you will not answer my questions then I need to get back out there and get to work," I said, not referring to what I meant as work. What I was planning was to immediately go for better equipment and gear. I would follow up with trying to formulate a strategy with what I knew and if I did not know enough, I would just look into every previous incident occurring with Herobrine and gather what I could. He had to have a weakness. Nothing was invincible.

"Sit!" a sudden heavy voice I did not expect ordered me. Just like that, I had planted my ass cheeks back into the bed. I did not lie back in a relaxed position this time. The man marched up to me and grabbed me roughly by the shoulders and gave me a good shake. "I can see it in your eyes, boy. You think your powers can make you invincible. You thought you were the alpha, didn't you? Now that you know there's something out there that can so _utterly_ destroy you, you're becoming rash. You're actually scared despite your buffer on emotions and now you're trying to figure out a way to beat him. Sorry to tell you, but your way won't cut it and if you think enough, you'll realize that I'm spot on."

His words hit me like a freight train. Both that he read me so openly and that he'd referred to what I thought only I knew about.

 _Power…_

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about," I lied plainly, but even I knew it would pointless. He knew already, I was grasping at straws.

"Lad do you know what you are?"

"A commoner?" I stated before the palm of his hand lightly smacked me across the forehead.

"You're a damn super weapon. Do you know that? At the peak of your power, you can probably topple entire nations. Except now you've attracted Herzchvrine's attention. Good job on that one," he shot before bringing his hands to hit face so he could massage the bridge of his nose. I watched him in shock more or less.

"Is that what you call him here?"

"I know what you call him originally as. You know his real name, and you'd best not say it out loud, lest he hear it and decide to shred you apart in the next few minutes," he warned me. I glanced at the lantern at the table and pointed to it. So Herobrine was his actual name and he was identified by something else. Saying his name could gain his attention? What is this, Harry Potter?

"Yet you negated his power somehow with whatever you were burning as fuel in there. Surely you have a way to beat him? He is not invincible!" I retorted, glancing to the lantern still resting nearby.

"Lad, I don't think you fully comprehend your situation. Do you know why you're alive? It's because of that lantern yes but that's no weakness to that thing. He doesn't like direct light in general. It makes him _uncomfortable_. He let you go on a blasted _whim_ because the light makes him feel a bit less cozy. You're alive because he didn't feel like sticking around long enough to finish the job. Well he's going to come back one day and finish it!" he growled loudly before I scowled and glared him in the eye.

"Okay so since you know so fucking much about my power, the demon, and what is going on then why the fuck did you save me?! You seem awfully pissed for having me around, don't you think?!" I spat before tightening my fists into a ball. I was very close to throwing a punch at him.

"You'd think after this many years, you'd begin to formulate common sense. You don't really understand how dangerous the world is, do you? There's so much there is that you do not understand and of course you come knocking to one of the biggest baddies out there," Master Garrosh grumbled into his hands, toning his voice down a notch. He must've realized people outside the door or the next room over could likely hear us.

"And what do you want of me? As a matter of fact, who the hell are you really? A commoner who holds a Master title isn't going to cut it. I'm safe to assume you know exactly what I am, what I can do, and the situation I am in?"

"Yes… looks like you're growing a bit smarter by the moment," Garrosh said, though I ignored the rude remark.

So he knew I had powers that defied the laws of physics and nature itself. Now did he know that I came from a different a more advanced land? Did he knew that I carried memories from before my birth or did all he know is that I had abilities that can turn me into a dangerous adversary? I had not mentioned anything concerning my homeland nor had he done so either. He'd only referred to everything at a viewpoint of some regular native here.

"How?"

"Well I'm just an omniscient son of a bitch, aren't I?"

"Don't play games with me!" I hissed at him. "If you know anything about me, then you'll know that I don't like wasting time. I can be out there preparing for when he returns so don't _fuck_ with me!"

"You really want to know? Lad, I've got a proposal for you, one that you'll find quite interesting. You accept, and I'll tell you _everything_ at some point," Garrosh said with a smug grin. I so badly wanted to wipe that off. One clean strike, that was all it would take and I could shatter his skull. "It's obvious that on your own, you'll never be good enough to beat something like Herzchvrine. I can help you. I can train you on everything you need to know. You need me to keep you alive for a good while longer, lad. I need you to kill that demon."

…

"You think you can train me to beat that thing?"

"Do you know what title I hold?"

"Master…"

"Master Swordsman, lad. There's not a finer swordsman you could find in all five realms," he chuckled to himself, likely relishing in old memories of his good ol' days. I grimaced and shook my head.

"Hate to break it to you, but a sword isn't going to do shit against him," I shot before glancing at the sword at his belt. I had long since abandoned being polite. "You really think training me in swordplay could possibly help me win against an entity with supernatural powers? I thought you knew a lot about the demon!"

"Oh I'm not going to train you on _just_ swordplay," he scoffed.

"I'm sure whatever the hell you can teach me will be so useful on something practically on level with the power of a _god_ ," I growled before shoving out of the bed. If he ordered me to sit, I wouldn't do it this time. The first time he'd just caught me off guard by how stern his voice was. "I'm out of here."

Before I could react I felt his gruff hand wrap around my shoulder. I whirled around in an attempt to brush his hand off but I found an odd pressure in his fingers that even made me think twice about my situation. Master Garrosh faced me with an odd grin on his lips and a small crystal like shard held in his other hands. Where had got it from, I had no clue.

 _Smash!_

I watched the object shatter under his fingers and the world ripped apart around me. I felt the similar edge in my stomach I had received from using the Ender Pearls. I was being teleported obviously. The next thing I knew, we were in the backyard of the Manor where hedges secluded us from the view of any prying eyes. The sky above me was dark blue as the sun began to set and the orange horizon just barely shown the land. I was sprawled on the ground trying not to vomit from the sudden warp.

I watched Master Garrosh's shadow peered over my pathetic form a few seconds later and I knew he was watching me with amusement.

"The hell was that for," I grunted. I heard something collide with the ground and found a sword imbedded a few inches into the ground before me. Garrosh had taken a few steps back with nothing held in his hands.

"Beat me in a fight now, and you're free to leave with my consent and best wishes," he stated with an innocent grin. I glanced between him and the sword he had just given to me.

"You're crazy. You have no weapon," I accused before grabbing the sword all the way up to the hilt. I quickly read the name of the blade as it appeared in my hot bar: [Outlander Blade] "Do you think you can beat me with your bare hands and dodging skills?"

"No, I think I can teach you something," Master Garrosh spat back. "So are you eager to get back to masturbating alone in the forest or are you going to stand there gawking at me?"

I took several large steps forwards and thrust the sword forwards. Most would think me evil for attacking with such killing intent at a defenseless man. I knew better. There was something about this Master Garrosh, something that threw most off. He was not defenseless, even without a blade. I had no idea how right I was.

 _Ching!_

A short sword materialized in the middle aged man's hand and he easily blocked my blow. A second later and a round silver lined and blue plated shield in his other hand smashed into my nose. The numbness I felt etched across my face stunned me as I stumbled backwards. I lost balance easily enough and my ass hit the grass soon after as I stared up in shock.

Master Garrosh flipped the short sword around elegantly, like he'd used it his entire life, before it disappeared in a soft light. His shield followed suit and he smirked at me. I only gawked in surprise.

"Every person is different! The same goes for every opponent and there will always be something that to catch you off guard," he stated before crossing his arms. No longer did I see a feeble old man, but a soldier in his righteous glory. "Come on! I thought you had more balls then this!"

His words brought me back to the living and I got off the grass quickly enough. The sword in my hand sliced as his torso. Metal gauntlets flashed into existence around his wrists and he blocked the blow easily. I made a mental comparison to him and Wonder Woman who could block bullets with her gauntlets before I felt a palm impact me in the chest. The force was well placed and I stumbled back further then I thought a mere palm strike could make me go.

My foot hit a stone ledge and I tumbled backwards into a small pond where water immediately filled my vision. With my head submerged underwater, I momentarily panicked before I fist grabbed my shirt and yanked me out. I came face to face with the Master Swordsman who was scowling into my face.

"Your environment can be your ally, or your worst enemy! Pay attention to your surroundings, lad!" he yelled before throwing me back. I gained my sensed and slammed a mound of dirt beneath my feet into the pond so that only my ankles were submerged. "You're learning to start using your resources."

I took a step forwards while grabbing the sword out from the pond while the other hand remained pressed into the pond water and against the dirt mound I had created beneath me. Garrosh stood there with an amused expression while I glared back from the center of the man-made pond. I waited, silently watching the small tadpoles float around my submerged hand before standing up right and holding the blade outward.

"You're like me?" I stated the obvious.

"Like you? _Pha!_ I couldn't be more different then you personality wise, but in terms of our physical existence? I'm you lad, forty or fifty years from now," he chuckled. I watched him with uncertainty while angling the sword into a better position.

"How did you figure I was a… whatever I'm supposed to be called," I called to him.

"They call people like us Bergmen in the northern realm. In the Eastern City-States called us Minuers. The People of the Farlands dubbed us the Mynwurkers. We have many names," Garrosh declared proudly. The pronoun caught my attention. "In consideration of your question, who else would Herzchvrine be after?"

"Are there more of us?" I watched Garrosh's eyes narrow suddenly.

"Not anymore…"

"Dead?"

"Killed by the demon himself. That is why your existence is so important, lad. There are only two of us in this big world, displaced from our homeland," he mumbled darkly. I saw the sorrow in his eyes and knew that Herobrine had killed many whom he had likely known well enough.

"So that also means you're from-

"Earth? Yes, I came from Earth same as you did. One moment on a computer and the next, waking up in a lowly orphanage," he interrupted before dropping his stance slightly. I saw the chance and immediately drew my eyes to the inventory menu floating to my left.

If Master Garrosh was like me, he had a menu that was invisible to me as well. He obviously knew I did as well and could likely tell what I would be doing. That was why being in water helped me out. A collection of [Oak Wood] I always kept on me in case I ever needed it was located on the top right corner of my inventory. Why they were not named logs instead of wood did not really bothered me. Instantly, I had converted the [Oak Wood] into four [Oak Wood Planks] and then into a [Crafting Table] which I slammed down directly into the pond.

The sudden formation of mass inside the water did exactly what I desired. With there already being water where I put the [Crafting Table] down, it did not just vanish like the normal game. The system I lived with still followed certain rules of logic, despite being so world breaking already. The water exploded outwards like I had set off a bomb. The water clouded my vision and I could not focus on anything around me. That was fine, I did not need to.

One hand still grasped on the edge of the [Crafting Table], I mentally pictured the [Iron Ingots] I knew were in my inventory and willed them into several shapes. A moment later, four new additions were added to my collection of items.

Garrosh was actually surprised when a fully armored boy shot through the water before all the pond returned to the ground with the sword drawn back for a strike. His sword, still grasped in his hands swung upwards so the blade was tilted downwards where both swords met with a loud metallic clink.

I saw Garrosh grin almost madly at the sight of me in my new [Crude Iron Armor]. Out swords pressed against each other near the hilt, he leaned closer and our eyes met, one new and inexperienced with the world and one looking for turn that around.

"Good!" he roared, but not with anger or annoyance. He sounded genuinely happy. We both drew back at the same time, swords coming around to strike at each other with full force. We knew wounds were superficial to both of us. A lethal blow would not be able to kill us so easily.

Our swords met again, this time bouncing off eachother to allow us a quicker counter strike. Garrosh was faster and his sword slammed into the metal shoulder plating of my chestplate. The blade glanced off the metal but the force brought me off balance. I took a step back as his sword came around again at my torso. His strike missed out rightly but my backpedaling set me up. Another strike came and I barely deflected the blow with a diagonal block.

Quickly, I struck from the side. My sword would've made contact with him, but a wall of dirt quickly materialized in front of him. I was not hesitant in the slightest when I smashed the sword through the dirt, instantly harvesting it Minecraft style with a single powerful strike. What I saw confused me greatly. Garrosh was not there.

Human eyes could not even see a fist from seemingly nowhere collided with my torso. A familiar cold etched upon my skin as Garrosh materialized, eyes pitch white and blue aura flaming off of his hands. I found the distinct similarity between him now and Herobrine alarming.

A split second later and his hands slammed together in a loud clap. Instantly the world around me blew up in a world of a blazing inferno, like hell had painted itself blue and approached me. Boulders tore through the ground with grass and dirt flinging all over the now ablaze garden. I took in the destruction and wondered if this was Herobrine possessing Garrosh or if the man was completely fine with destroying the Manor.

Any thought I had came to a halt as a boulder slammed into me, smashing me into the ground as the giant rock shattered into smaller stone. Gasping for breath, I clutched my torso where the brunt of the impact had hit me.

One of his arms flew out to the left and a wall of stone and dirt sprouted out of the air. His right arm did the same and another wall appeared on the opposite side. He swung his arms in a cross motion, leaving a trail of blue sparks, and the walls flung together with me in between. I felt the stone and dirt crumble upon impact with me and the hit completely knocked my senses out. The shear impact was like being tackled but from all sides and the light of the setting sun was suddenly outside my vision.

As the rubble disappeared into nothingness, I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air. My health had dropped by four points, my armor most likely taking the brunt of the damage. Still catching my breath, I saw the glowing white eyes of Garrosh dissipate back to his normal brown eyes and the blue flames around his hands extinguish. The world around me faded and the bright flames that ravaged the gardens withered back to the peaceful garden it once had been

"You eyes… they were…" I heaved, still unable to comprehend what he had just done. He had not been in contact with the walls he had formed. This was not something our power should allow.

"They were like Herzchvrine? Yes, they were. He was like us once, did you know that?" Garrosh chuckled sadly. I did not take his hand and opted to continue to remain on my knees, panting at the floor for air as my health began to regenerate. Garrosh withdrew his hand and stood up straight before me. "You want to know what it was I just did. We called it Code Breaker, or no longer we but just I now. We broke the system and in turn it allows us to bend the world to our imagination. It's a dangerous power that should never be used too much. Breaking the system has... undesirable effects. As you can see with Herzchvrine, he did not follow that creed. If you want to know what he truly is and how he became what he is now, let me teach you. You think your power breaks to laws of the real world? You have not seen anything, not even the demon himself has truly shown you what he can really do. You need a Code Breaker to kill another Code Breaker and I am much too weak and old to take him on. I can truly make you an alpha, a god, a being of incredible power and not just with Code Breaker. I can teach you how to use this power you have."

"It... our power revolves around _minecraft!_ How?!"

I looked up and found the Master Swordsman kneeling before me with his eyes locked onto me.

"Let me teach you everything, make you understand what we are. Let me teach you and I promise that someday it will all make sense."

"I.. I t-th-

"I can help you survive this god awful world, and protect those who cower before the darkness," he stated. "Danger is coming, and it is only us two who can stop it now."

"I-I do not want to become a god… or some hero. I just want to survive…" I stated, still looking at the grass. Suddenly I was once again just a young boy back in America. Slowly, I raised my head with as much steel will and returned his battle hardened gaze. I brought both my hands up in submission and held them up as if surrendering. "Teach me… please."

"Good, I plan on it," Garrosh said as he took both my hands in his own and pulled me up. "You have much for me to teach you… apprentice. First we will begin with teaching you everything of our kind, what we are. What we used to be before we were killed out. Then after sufficient-"

"Tush!" a cry of relief called from the Manor. Both of us turned to see Delilah, followed by Cecily and Williston come running through the hedges.

"I think it would be best if you take off your armor… without using your power of course. They might take it badly if they believe we were fighting right after your so-called injuries," Garrosh muttered my way. I froze up momentarily and glanced nervously at my inventory. I had only one slot each for every article of clothing I can wear. Currently occupying my clothing slots was my [Crude Iron Armor].

"I... um you see… I only have one slot for what I wear and… I had to take the leather clothing off to put on the iron armor. You might've missed that with all the water being flung into the air…" I juggled around nervously. Garrosh looked my way silently with a contemplative stare before turning back to the three still trying to reach us from the other side of the garden. It was a big area.

"You are nude …"

"Fuck you! I'm wearing armor at least!"

* * *

 **AN:** Tusk is inexperienced to his power and how it works. If he had a mentor, someone who had already lived most of his life with the same power, it would help him obviously. There's only so much someone can do by merely experimenting. Obviously Garrosh came from the modern world, but why hasn't he gone home yet? He has enough money to sail the seas and try to find his homeland.

 **Herobrine:** So it is revealed that he was once a player in this chapter. Nothing much else was revealed except for hints giving a baseline of how he became what he was. A more detailed explanation will be given that will also go more into the Code Breaker power.

 **Code Breaker:** Will this be a story where suddenly Tusk gets some dramatically powerful thing such as the Code breaker at his beck and calling? Hell no. The Code Breaker is kind of named in relation to the idea of hackers in the Minecraft Community, but obviously the power it can really give is nowhere near the average fly hack or kill aura. The idea is that Garrosh can use Code Breaker but not to the point where he can take on Herobrine who practically lives his immortal days ravaging Code Breaker. **There are detrimental** effects of using Code Breaker as well because it breaks the system. One of the hints given about Herobrine's past is that the players were ordered to not use Code Breaker because of what it could o to them. Herobrine obviously failed to comply.

There was supposed to be a twist concerning Delilah but I decided to move it into the next chapter. of course its not merely as important as to Garrosh being like Tusk or the fact that there is more to Herobrine then what is basely known.


	6. Chapter 6: Learning from an Old Man

**AN:** With school starting up, I wanted to get this one chapter out before I got back to learning and testing. This is of course drastically shorter then the previous chapter. This is also the last chapter I had stored to revise. That means that there are no other chapters to work on and that any future chapter will be written from nothing instead of being revisions. Of course with school starting up soon, I have been busy preparing for it so I have not had much time to work on stories. I have stopped revising these entirely and I'm not really sure about getting a beta. Reviews are a nice thing by the way and I do hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

"So Master Garrosh has taken you on as his pupil," Williston spoke my way while he gently sliced his silverware into the meat prepared on the expertly designed plate. To his left sat Delilah and on his right was the first born son of the Corchet House, Lachnet Corchet. I remembered the taller dark boy from the village quite vividly.

"Yes, he deemed my skills worthy of his training. I am humbled by his attention," I replied politely. Lachnet was tall, yes but barely taller than me. He was, considerably, older than me by a few years and was also packed more mass on his bones. He was not fat, don't get me wrong. He was larger but in the more muscular department. That of course likely became part of his intimidation factor for some of the scrawnier boys in Korcha.

On my side of the extremely… lavish and long table sat Master Garrosh on my left and on the right Bachten Corchet. Looking at the smaller boy in spectacles, I found that he might not be as bad at Lachnet himself. I knew for a fact that seeing as we had no foul history; it might be easier to befriend the boy. Lachnet on the other hand…

I glanced his way and examined his jaw. He took it as a glaring challenge and beamed hatred at me in the form of silent prayers of death. It had long since healed; most likely just a dislocation had occurred rather than an actual fracture. "How's that jaw?" I nodded his way and smirked when he sucked in a breath.

"Fine," he spat. Delilah looked between us with a confused expression. It seems she hadn't learned the full story of the incident, only that I had been evicted from my household. She was a smart girl so I expected her to figure it out soon enough.

To be honest, with my power, I had guessed that by now I would've used it to smash his skull in and maybe dislocate a few things. By dislocate, I meant dislocate organs, not bones. Bones were much too easy to push out of place. Of course, with the familiar lightness on my head that came with my new existence, negative emotions were cleared out almost instantly. This boy, this thing across the table had spread lies and tales of things I had never committed so he could get back at me for defending myself. Maybe striking him with the full force of my strength which was, may I say, greatly amplified to allow me to punch trees was a bit much.

I could easily blame him for my basic disownment from my own household, but I was too calm and levelheaded for that. They'd seen what I had become over the years and I knew that both parents were greatly against it. I could not solely blame how poorly they reacted on Lachnet because he was just a mere ignition for the entire bomb which has built up over the years. Despite not holding that itself against him…

"Are you sure? I hope the injury still isn't sore after all this time, hmm?" I mused. The boy's face turned white in silent anger before he quickly excused himself from the table. I watched him strut through the hallway leading out the dining room before the doors slammed shut.

Yeah, there would be no befriending him.

At the head of the table rested two leather chairs which were currently unoccupied, the Lord and Lady Corchet currently away to meet with the King of Alkaline. What they were meeting about was very hush-hush and had intrigued my interest slightly. Maybe a few whispers from the servants would find its way to my ears. Empty plates rested before the two empty seats and left an eerie feeling to my senses. How would they react to Garrosh taking on some mere commoner? I would think they would suck it up, seeing as they allowed Master Garrosh into their household with open arms.

"So… Tusk," Delilah suddenly called, earning her an eyebrow raise from Master Garrosh. She was likely more formal when her parents were around. Now that they weren't, she was practically free from the standards they set up for her. I wouldn't say I wasn't proud for her slight rebellious attitude. "Are you sure you are healthy?"

"You saw me yourself, not a scratch on me! I'm fine, honestly. I just over exerted myself on my way here and passed out for a bit," I chuckled nervously. My hand unconsciously scratched the back of my scalp. I gulped when I saw the girl's eyes narrow. She leaned forwards slightly while placing her silver fork back onto a piece of cloth resting to the left of her fine plate.

"So then what happened to your attire?" She grilled me, eyeing the new clothing that had been provided for me in substitution for my torn and ragged tunic and leggings. I donned what was similar to a minor version of what Garrosh wore, a nice blue uniform similar to that of maybe an officer. The only thing different was that my own was not nearly as decorated as his was. Likely it was to show his superior stance in the social status despite being a commoner.

"What do you mean…?"

"The blood, Tusk. All the jagged blood soaked cuts that made me think you were injured in the first place?" she grilled me. I cringed on the inside and prayed for her to stop. She was a smart girl, and she liked to question things. She was like me, honestly. She was curious to explore and wander. I had gone further then I should've and was in too deep now with my life was on the line. If she keeps digging, she could get drawn into the hole Garrosh and I have been trapped into. It was better I stop her at the roots before it grew like a wildfire.

It was better to lie straight to her face. She might hate me later and it may hurt her, but whatever happened would always be better then what I would likely go through alongside Garrosh. She could not learn of who I am, what we are, and what was going to happen.

"First of all, that wasn't blood. That was Verun Juice," I pointed out before glancing to Master Garrosh. The older man knew as well what we had to keep hidden. Obviously, he'd been hiding things all his life.

"A very potent potion ingredient commonly grown around Alkaline native tree groves. It's used mainly in potions meant to put very wild animals to sleep," he nodded my way. "It seems Tusk was working with the herbs and accidently fell on top of a barrel of juiced Verun. I do suppose the barrel did not survive the predicament and the splinters did a number on his tunic."

Delilah bit her lower lip before nodded silently. She'd accepted it for now or at least she pretended to. That was fine for now. On the other hand…

I glanced behind Delilah where a few guards stood silently with their spears pointed upwards towards the ceiling and the ends planted firmly into the ground. The armor was expertly polished and bragged style and luxury. While most of the knight guards lined along the wall were equipped with armored helmets which shielded their faces, one man did not don this uniformed attire. Captain of the Guard, Knight Horace had his helmet by his side and watched me with a withering gaze. It wasn't that he disliked me, it was more he distrusted me. They were very different things.

He knew I was lying, that much was obvious. Though smart, Delilah was not as familiar with detecting deception as others who had lived much longer years then her. Master Garrosh had told me not to worry about him though. He had yet to tell my exactly why I should extract him from my list of concerns but I felt that I could trust Master Garrosh

Ten years, it had been ten years since I had actually had a chat with someone who might _barely_ understand what I was on the inside and out. Not only was he like me in terms of this power we seemed to hold, he was also a person born of the modern world. I had yet to ask him about his modern life. What really bothered me was that he had not spoken of any way to return home.

I had assumed, mostly due to my lack of will to believe otherwise, that we were currently located on an island on the far reaches of the Earth. Now, I was beginning to doubt that theory. What I had been told was that there were many before me, just like Garrosh who had been brought into existence here after being ripped from their normal everyday lives. He also explained how, besides him, they had all been killed off. Dark horrifying past's aside, that also brings to light one thing. Not one of them returned home.

Sure, maybe it was just that maybe not many of them dared tried sailing the seas in hopes of finding their way back home, but taking into the account of the sheer impossibility of this landmass existing on earth in the first place without being spotted brought to light only one simple fact. Not one of them got home because there was no home here. We did not travel to the past; no, there would've been mentions of such cultures and civilizations. At this point in terms of technology, the land masses should've already taken shape as to what we know them in the modern age. What I stood on now did not match any of those maps.

This was not Earth and there was no going home.

I looked at the slightly pink meat still lying on my plate and quietly sighed. There was no panic of fear welling up. That itself was… still something that would catch me off guard. At some point, my lack of basic fear and anger may become an issue. When my powers itself are negated during combat with the demon, I could feel the emotions of great fear and a momentary fit of rage at the idea that I had been surpassed in strength. Well I _have_ been utterly surpassed. It had been a great long time since I had felt such things and I was unused to it. It'd been nearly a decade since I'd tested my self control.

"Tusk, are you alright? You've barely touched your supper," Williston questioned me out of friendly concern. I glanced up quickly in surprise before returning a reassuring smile.

"Lost in thought, I assure you. I think the Verun might still be running its course as of now," I shrugged. "It might be best if I return now, though I am terribly sorry I am unable to finish such a splendid meal you have provided for me."

"Tell me Tusk, where do you think you're going?" Delilah suddenly hummed, innocently twirling a lock of brown hair around her fingers. Williston visibly shivered and Bachten finally glanced up from the book resting in his hands. Like me, he had not touched his supper either and had decided he would rather read than eat.

"To… Korcha?" I replied. Delilah slowly stood up, grabbing her gown so that the silk would not catch on anything. I felt a certain sense of dread wedging into the back of my head but I ignored it. Delilah smiled at me and I silently wondered where the mind calming effect had gone.

"Where you have no home…?" her smile grew wider, but her face darkened even more. "You never did answer me when I asked where you've been living…"

"The streets aren't that bad," I mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear. Her palms slammed into the table as she leaned forwards. Her smile visibly strained as she let out several abused sentences. To be fair, the streets weren't as bad as you would think. What I normally did was set up a tarp between a few posts and wrapped myself up tight in the blankets during the nights. I could wash in the river and food was obviously no issue because they were abundant in large amounts in the forest. It was a risk, because I was relying on tags of the named items to point out whether or not something was safe to consume.

"The streets!" The ten year old shrieked. She oddly reminded me suddenly of a mother. I had no time to think of anything else before her smaller hands flew across the table, wrapped around the collars of my shirt, and wrung me closer to her face. "Did you honestly think I would let you go and sleep on the dirt?!"

"I use a hammock, thank you very much!" I scoffed before she pulled us so close that I was basically flattening my food under my stomach. Delilah glared into my eyes and I could feel her breath on my face. All this happened while the servants and guards all stopped what they were doing to stare at the blatant unladylike display the girl was putting on. I would be lying if I said I wasn't even half proud at the moment.

"You are going to lodge here, you will spend the night in the guest room, and you _will_ agree to it," she growled. I nodded quickly, my eyes swapping targets with both Master Garrosh and the she-demon in front of me. The older man merely shrugged before continuing to cut away a slice of meat. The bastard!

While the safety of the manor was much more preferred than out there were Herobrine would have a much easier time approaching me, I still had a stash of supplies stored away out underneath a pile of foliage behind the blacksmith's workshop. I would much prefer it if I had all of those items in my possession before I began my training.

"There are things I need to do, Delilah!"

"What could you possibly need to do that requires you to travel the roads at _night!"_ she hissed in my face. The hands around my bunched up shirt tightened even further. I clicked my tongue when a sudden sarcastic response came to mind.

"Well you see, I promised a pretty looking lass back in Korcha I would visit her household and meet her pare-"

 _Thwap!_

* * *

"Your basic training," Master Garrosh said while staring up at the sun momentarily. "will consist of the art of sword fighting, political standards, and of course, the basic history of our people."

We trudged through the dirt and gravel paths, away from the bright and luscious Corchet Manor and back towards Korcha. Morning had risen earlier since it was summer and so did Garrosh and I it seemed. We had gathered large rucksacks, switched out our fancy uniforms for more travel worthy attires which consisted of [Hard Strewn Leather] equipment. We had inventories but that did not mean we possessed infinite storage.

One thing to recognize about items that could be picked up in game was that only certain items had the ability to be "stacked" as we called it. Say I was to harvest ten blocks of stone. There are only [37 Inventory Slots] for items, not including your off-hand which was where you hold your second item. It would quite terrible if you then dedicated each slot to one stone block. When mining, I would on average at least get over three maxed stacks, each stack being [64]. Each separate stack would take up a single inventory space, but then there were items that were unstackable.

Back in the early stages of Minecraft, food was not stackable. Equipment and tools as well as other certain items are also unable to be stacked. That meant each one you had occupied an entire inventory slot. The rucksacks were so we could put such items into our packs to make room for stackable items.

"After you get a basic understanding of those three, we will then begin to delve into the art of INV-Combat as we used to call it and the basics of Code Breaker and what the power itself is. Along the way I will continue to hammer ideas and actions I want you to follow no matter what. Should you begin to advance in Code Breaker, I will then teach you the more advanced acts of world bending…"

"You say that as if there's a chance I might not be able to use it," I questioned the older man from behind. The man glanced back at me without hindering his pace. The sweat beads on his forehead were a testament to the heat that was bearing down on us so early in the morning.

"Some of us were never able to use Code Breaker, though there were many who never tried either. It was strictly forbidden," the man called back. "If you fail to show aptitude for Code Breaker, we will be forced to resort to my own Code Breaker."

"I'm assuming you aren't generally considered very powerful in terms of using it, even before you aged as far as you have now," I guessed. Garrosh only let out a grunt of confirmation.

The main reason we were heading towards Korcha was not to visit the village. The Loch Forest, much to my surprise when Master Garrosh had informed me of our destination, was the actual reason for out early departure. We were to only make a short stop at Korcha so I could retrieve a small stash of items and maybe grab any other supplies we may need before venturing deep into the forest.

"How long do you suppose we have before he will come after us again?" I asked quietly, for it felt more like I was asking when I would die rather than when I would fight the demon.

"With Herzchvrine? You never really know."

"So you're saying he could come back tomorrow and we could totally be unprepared? Why the hell aren't we skipping everything and rushing right into Code Breaker?!" I exclaimed in alarm.

"If he were to come back that early, we would all be dead within seconds of his arrival. He's purposefully giving you time to train," the man retorted, this time without even looking at me. "Something he has that will be his downfall, hopefully within the next decade if that's how much time he will grant us, is hubris. He is immortal to age and so he believes himself a god. He does not think you have what it takes to beat him."

"So he will give us time to train… because he believes it is futile?"

"In simple words, yes," Garrosh replied. Up ahead, I could see the small specks of the houses and building s that made up Korcha and some smoke which spewed out of the chimneys of the blacksmiths and those who had an active fireplace. "Will you visit your parents?"

"No." the answer was instantaneous, and did not require the least bit of thinking. This of course caused a bit of scrutiny to be sent my way.

"No? I have exactly what you have to understand that you are physically incapable of feeling anger in great force. Maybe a twinge of annoyance and irritation but that should not be enough to warrant total isolation from them." I watched him intently, as if waiting for him to continue. "Unless, you actually _are_ petty enough to give your parents the silent treatment just for some minor irritation."

"It wasn't some _minor_ irritation might I remind you," I sighed. A hand went to my eyebrows to wipe the sweat out. "Maybe I didn't feel great anger but if it had been anyone else, I would've probably held an explicit rage against them for many years. They practically trashed who I am and my way of life. They have no right."

"Yet they are your parents," Garrosh mused, not to argue but more in curiosity.

"No, they are not my parents," I said bluntly. It wasn't that I was denying the physical facts as they did indeed give birth to my body. They did not however birth who I am. My parents in America shaped who I am and set the pathway in what led me to be who I was now. "Besides, it would be better if they never saw me again. I'll be heading off one day, and if they want me gone then it will be a great deal easier for them."

"If that is how you see it, then so be it." I glanced up in surprise. My teacher had stopped and was now facing towards me with a smug expression. "Why so shocked? Thought I would disagree?"

"You did bring up the topic of my parents in the first place. I just thought you would want me to." I returned my statement. "I just thought you would want me to go talk to them."

"And I do," Garrosh said before planting a hand on my shoulder and motioning his arm outwards towards the large expanse of grasslands which were further surrounded by forests even further out just to décor the horizon. Off in the distance I could make out the tip of a large mountain and the sun which was just barely rising brought a peaceful orange glow. "You see this?"

I nodded, unsure where the older man was going.

"Yes."

"This is peace. This is what lack of war and slaughter looks like. Here, there are barely any wars that rage between massive kingdoms ruled by drunken kings. There are no spiraling cities littered with the poor in the lower areas that prop up the rich in the castles." He breathed loudly. His hand left his shoulder so he could stretch both arms outwards as if he were Jesus on the cross. "There are no giant highways where cars are constantly slamming on their breaks or honking their horns. No bustling New York, Las Vegas or Houston! There isn't some damn IRS come to take audit you or a door to door salesman waking you up early in the morning to attempt to sell you something."

His hands dropped to his side and the cheery attitude slowly dropped.

"All that we have here is peace… but it won't last forever, you know that right?"

"Because Herzchvrine?"

"No, because of who we are, lad. You see, we are not meant to settle down in one area to live a quiet peaceful life where we can sip some tea and watch the sunset every afternoon. It's not our way, it's not who we are. We are adventurers by blood and passion. Ambition is our middle name, and quite honestly I sometimes wish it wasn't. Our kind has been drawn into too many conflicts to remember and I tire of it after so many years. I feel that maybe I can pass on not only my teachings but my warnings of what could happen."

I was surprised when I realized that we had not only started walking without really noticing but had also reached the outskirts of Korcha where a building here or there littered the area. There weren't really anyone out this early to overhear our conversation which was likely why Master Garrosh hadn't seemed too bothered.

"We're drawn into danger like a bug is to light. One day, you may run into something that not even your very core can pull you through. Could you live with yourself knowing that any day you could die and you will never have the chance to end your relationship with them on good terms? They have been all you've had these long years of your life, lad." We finally reached the main area where the villagers of Korcha were all congregating at. I sucked in a breath when I picked out the figure of my father among the crowd has he gave out the work order for the labor that was needing to be done for today.

"W-what do I say?" I stuttered slightly. I was nervous, yes. It was one of the few negative emotions I still had left alongside concern and worry.

"Just tell him what he needs to know, and what's going on if anything. If he doesn't take your situation well, just take solace in knowing you tried to make him understand. It helps you sleep at night, I promise you," the aged man muttered to me. I felt his hand push me forwards softly and I nearly stumbled.

Waiting was one of the worst moments in my life as the crowd slowly dissipated one by one with each person having received their tasks for the day. I followed closely to the edge of the crowd, taking a small step when there was room to slip in further. My father, the burly mad he was, did not seemed to have changed much in the several days that had passed. I did not expect him to either. He had to appear strong for he was what everyone in the village looked up to when in need of help. You might thing he either did not remember about his estranged son or he just did not care.

He noticed me mid-sentence when he got to the last man, I think the woodcutter. He did his best to not let it show but I could tell his mind was beginning to distract from his job to me. I took their waiting with the thrumming of my heart as he finished with the last person before turning to me. We stood there silently staring each other down and I was not sure whether we were sizing each other up or just unsure of what to say. The pregnant silence was lifted when Jerry, my father finally spoke.

"How have you been?"

"Fine, really. The Corchet family was nice enough to let me stay with them," I replied casually while remembering the face of the demon who had almost taken my life last night. One of his eyebrows perked up in slight curiosity.

"I always knew you and their daughter got along well," Jerry said. "That's good you found yourself a place to stay."

…

There was a long uncomfortable silence and a few people passed by us while giving a few weird looks. We stood like this until I finally sucked in a large breath, more for relaxation rather than the fact I had been holding in my breath out of habit. My right hand went behind my neck where I scratched the stubbles of hair growing further towards the lower area of my scalp of my short haired head.

"You can come home anytime you want, Tusk. Ain't nobody stopping you," father stated. "You've shown that you can hold your own without us already and your mother misses you greatly. You've got nothing to prove to us, son."

I was instantly reminded of how the world viewed me, how I must appear to everyone around me. I was nothing but a spoiled brat who had run from home. How could I possibly be anything else? It was unheard of for someone to be born with memories of someone else. Reincarnation wasn't generally thought to transfer memories, if it was even a known concept here.

"I can't," I stated with more bluntness then I probably should've. I saw a frown crease his lips. "Your right, I don't have anything to prove. I'm not doing this to show that I'm different from the everyday child in this world, I know I am. Call it hubris or label it pride, it's what I believe in. You can hate me for it, but you cannot change my beliefs"

"No, I could never hate my son," he quickly rectified. I felt a slight twinge of relief in my chest. "but that doesn't mean I still can't have my own opinion. I've seen boys like you when I was younger. They grow up quick and die off just as fast. I know how dangerous this world is, do you?"

"With proper training and a guide, I will," I stated.

"Guide?"

"The Master Swordsman took me in as his pupil. He wants to train me to take on his title before he passes on," I explained with a soft chuckle. "The Corchet family is going to house me until my training is completed."

I watched him nod in silence and I was unable to really read what he was feeling. Disappointment or contempt? Shame or pride? I could not tell. He showed no surprise that one of the most skilled fighters in the realm had taken me under his wing. Instead he crossed his arms and just nodded for me to continue, which was not what I really wanted. I did not desire to be the only one talking. It made me feel like I was having a one sided conversation. "After that… I think I'm going to go explore the world."

"If that is what you want," I listened to his reply and quietly bit my lower lip. There it was the disappointment. Parents might not hate you when you royally screw up, they may not even be mad. If there's one thing kids hate, it's disappointing those who raise them.

"I'm sorry… that I couldn't be the son you wanted. I never wanted to disappoint you like I did, but it's not who I am. What you wanted from me isn't possible," I told him earnestly. While my father had not used to word disappointment, I could easily tell he felt it. "With the way things are, I don't think I'm going to be coming home and quite honestly things might be better that way. You've both been there for me since day one and I know there's not really much I can do to pay you back for that. All I can really say is thanks for being there for me and getting me to where I am now…"

The burly man looked momentarily taken aback by my short speech.

"You are one of the most peculiar ten year olds I have ever seen," he sniggered. I broke a weak smile and nodded. "Have you thought about talking to your mother? She worries about you every day, even prays three times a day for your safety. It will break her heart to see what you're getting into, but she'll respect it."

"Respect it maybe, but she won't like me apprenticing under the Master Swordsman," I replied. "Though neither do you."

"I will respect your wishes, there's not really much I could do to persuade you otherwise," he grumbled. "I was right about one thing, kids like you grow up fast. I just hope you don't die off as fast as most."

If only he knew how grown up I really was…

"I promise to visit mother at some point. Master Garrosh is taking me into Loch forest for training. He hasn't told me what for specifically."

"That him? The older fellow waiting back there near the baker's house?" I glanced back and saw Master Garrosh waiting silently for me with his hands behind his back in intimidating discipline.

"Yes, that is him."

"Do you trust him?"

"Do you trust me to make that decision?" I shot back. Jerry snorted and crossed his arms.

"I'm going to have to, because saying otherwise won't do me any good."

"I trust him yes," I said, to calm my father's nerves. I wasn't sure if that did any good. My father would likely hold Master Garrosh in a bad light. It would be easy to blame the older man for enabling me to turn away from what my parents wanted me to become. "I think it is time for me to rejoin my master. I bid you farewell, father."

"Tusk, promise me and your mother you will do your best to keep out of harm's way? When I say I've seen young boys like you rush off to their deaths, I mean it. I've met a lot of good men in my time, all eager for adventure and not many of them returned to tell the tale of their endeavors." I felt my father desperately beg me. I came to a sudden realization why he would be so against me going into my line of work. If he had experienced and dealt with the death of people whom he knew well enough in a similar fashion, it would warrant a reasonable dislike for anything with a sword and satchel.

"I promise, I'll be safe," I lied. I was not safe and I knew it. At any given time Herzchvrine would return to kill me and Master Garrosh. There was no way to tell if I would be ready for when he returned and I doubted I could truly ever be ready for such foe. This thing had spent years practically festering in Code Breaker and I would be barely scraping the surfaces of it.

"Good. Remember that you're my son and no matter what you do, I will always love you as any parent should," he stated in contempt. We both nodded to each other in silent understanding; maybe a thing us males had that let us understand each other. I was sure that mother would most definitely not.

I turned and made my way back to Master Garrosh who still watched us both. My father turned heel as well and quickly disappeared amongst the other villagers. When I turned, he was nowhere in sight. He had important business to attend to anyways.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes… or I think I am."

"There is no thinking in our line of work. That will get you killed so simply yes or no, are you ready or are you not?"

"Yes, I am ready."

"Then let us begin you training."

* * *

 **AN:** Next chapter will revolve around the actual training and will begin to delve into Code Breaker. It will also look into the stronghold in a unusual way. This chapter was supposed to give a temporary closure to the issue with Tusk's family, but being temporary, they will come back in a later chapter. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry if it was shorter then the previous chapters!


	7. Chapter 7: Learning from a Dead Man

**AN:** The other chapters, being revised from an old story I dug up, obviously took much less time to get out. This one was written from scratch so this one may be out of it compared to the others. With school starting up, I have a dramatically decreased month of free time. As usual, I did no revising whatsoever so expect those usual grammar and spelling errors. As usual, reviews are a nice thing and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

[1 Year Later]

You could say that I had a newfound addiction in my new environment. I assure you that I did not indulge myself in any addictive chemical substances. I'm quite sure that it would've have no effect on me anyways. What drew in the majority of my free time was the small library located in the east wing of the manor. Within was stored a great deal of historical data, personal recounts of events, and detailed data logs by a great many researches.

From here, it was where Master Garrosh encouraged me to spend a great deal of time. I may have already been civilized, but I was civilized by the standards of earth. The culture of American would not work here, and the best place to learn more would be growing up learning as a child would. Stuck in a village taught me life of what they labeled a commoner or peasant. I needed to now begin my study of those in the upper social status. How they thought, taught, and acted would be key details I would find useful later on in life. I believed that a good place to start would be watching the nobles around me, but they gave me the feeling that other nobles did not act like them. So I turned to books.

What I found was rare, if anything.

There was no such thing as a typewriter yet. A single book could take a year to duplicate, and a single page might take half an hour. The fact that the library within the manor was this small was a reflection of the expenses and rarity of paper texts. Of course I did not want to break the world inside a room of ancient manuscripts and books. This then brought me to where I was instead of the library where I could usually be found.

The sun had just begun its process to reach the horizon so I had planned to sit there in the gardens for the rest of the day. Master Garrosh, though he had taught me much, still had a ridiculous amount to go over with me. He had decided that I was ready to begin something new which required him to retrieve something not currently in his possession. Where he went or when he would be back, I did not know. All he had told me to do was continue to practice what he had taught me.

I quite simply closed my eyes and let the hard energy run through my veins as what was known to me as Code Breaker began to awaken. I could feel it, almost as if the codes were my soul, as I practically hacked into the system which bound my powers to my body. It was very uncomfortable, not at all pleasant or addicting. The way Master Garrosh had described it; you would think that it was a power which consumed the mind in ambition and craze.

That was not the case, not entirely at least.

His warnings were very thorough and of course detailed. I remembered his words to the point of near obsession. I was terrified of what might happen if I failed to heed his teachings. His first lesson was caution. Caution was what I had shied away from in my first decade of experimenting and gathering resources. Now I had run right into the demon Herzchvrine. I had no doubt he would've discovered me later, but it was unsettling that I hard more or less come crawling to his attention. It was like a criminal on death row approaching the executioner with a smile and hands extended out to be cuffed.

Absolutely and utterly stupid.

That happened because I lacked caution, so now I would make sure every choice I made was filled with nothing _but_ caution. He went over everything he knew of the world's dangers. Like any sane person, he covered the creatures of the lands that would seek to tear me limb for limb.

I was taken by surprise at the number of different species he listed off, that list including the Acolyte, Orc, Goblin, Cyclops, and even a Succubus. I shivered at the thought of such creatures actually coming after me. He even went as far as to name the [Creeper], [Undead], giant spiders with its smaller variant being the [Cave spider], and of course the retched [Silverfish]. I had not encountered any when I had first explored the nearby stronghold and for that I was thankful. They were not difficult to kill per se but more a rather irritating annoyance… a disgusting, tiny, fucking annoyance.

He listed me the regions and even specific regions of where I would encounter these creatures, ways to avoid them, ways to befriend them, and of course the fastest ways to kill the,. The Acolyte, being one of the many which I had no familiarity with, was a four armed bipedal with hardened stony skin. Swords and spears were not recommended to killing them, so a mace, hammer, axe, and even a shield for bashing would be more efficient. The reason being was that this skin was an exoskeleton. A sword put pressure on one point and failed to get through. A blunt weapon put pressure on an entire region and could damage internal organs. The goal was to cause internal damage enough so that they were either too weak to fight or died from the inside.

He told me about the human's I would need to watch out for. King Hudner, the king of Alkaline was one who brought up. He told me that he was an honorable man and would do anything to keep justice within his realm, but his wife was a viper. While she too had the state of her realm within her mind, she also was willing to do more… darker deeds to keep it so. Bandit hotspots were pointed out and that also led to a story about our late predecessors and the many bandit brigades who ravaged the lands. The story, being rather short as it was, was still a very important memory for me. It was when I realized what the future laid out for me.

 _Two days into our travels through the dark forest, we had stopped by a small stream where he had begun to point aspects of the terrain, flora, and fauna and what significance they held. Things such as simply the poisonous plants and ingredients for useful remedies were brought up._

 _"_ _What do we call ourselves?" I asked Master Garrosh, interrupting his lesson. He gave me a scowl, though mostly because I had halted his speech._

 _"_ _I've already told you, we are called many things by the people of the many realms"_

 _"_ _But I don't want to know what they call us. I want to know what we call ourselves," I retorted stubbornly. Master Garrosh crossed his arms and glared at me annoyingly._

 _"_ _Titles do not define who we are," he spat back._

 _"_ _Well we can't just keep saying our ancestors now, can we?"_

 _"_ _We called ourselves Guardians," Garrosh said. I was surprised that he had given in so easily, but there was also the fact that I had just learnt what we labeled ourselves as._

 _"_ _isn't that a bit… I don't know…"_

 _"_ _Cliché?"_

 _"_ _Yes, it's just so… cliché."_

 _"_ _You wanted to know," he grunted after letting out a loud snort. "Look a bit closer at the word, lad. What does it mean?"_

 _"_ _Guardian means protector of sorts, yes?"_

 _"_ _Guardian means protector, but it also means caretaker, custodian, warden. We were the peace-keepers of these lands long ago. What evils others could not take care of, we did for them. The bandits, we wiped them out almost overnight as we swept across the land with no rest and no sleep. All we knew was that the longer we waited, the more time it gave them to pillage, rape, and kill. We would not stand for it, and so we made sure they would never stand on their two feet ever again."_

 _"_ _And now that there are only us… bandits have started appearing again?"_

 _"_ _Yes… you see, lad. I want to make sure you can survive after you defeat the demon, I want you to take the mantle of responsibility that we before you failed," he declared boldly. I snickered and leaned back against the tree behind me._

 _"_ _If I beat him you mean." His face morphed into one of brooding annoyance and I shut up._

 _"_ _You will beat him, else you will lose a lot more than just your life," he growled before pulling out a satchel. Easily, he tossed it into my arms which I caught with a slight fumble. "Inside you will find notes upon every single creature, every insidious person worth a damn, every location to hide out in, every location that you should avoid, and every location you ought to raze to the ground."_

 _"_ _Does that include to Deadlands?"_

 _"_ _Why so interested in them?"_

 _"_ _You're just always talking about things to avoid and what to stay away from, but you never have the Deadlands included. I mean all children are taught to stay away from that place, so why don't you ever bring it up?"_

 _"_ _I'll tell you one day, lad. Best not to ruin the surprise," he chuckled, knowing the curiosity would bug me. "Oh and if you don't like the name Guardians, you could just call us players. That's what we are, right?"_

Despite, still not knowing what the Deadlands were, even as I sat there in the gardens nearly months after that conversation, I still had no idea what was so important about it. Obviously it held some significance to the older man, but he for some reason found the need to not tell me.

Would knowing endanger me? Not knowing what I was getting into has gotten me hurt more times than enough, but this could just as easily be different.

My head began to spin and I knew I had begun to reach my limit. [Code Breaker] could only be activated for so long, but it was like a muscle. The more you trained it, the easier it got to move it. I had originally only been able to break my power for only several seconds. Now I could do so for at most twenty minutes. Would that be anywhere near enough to take on a demon that lived his life breaking apart the complex bindings of his power? I did not know.

There was something else I wanted to try, something which I had just been recently taught.

Master Garrosh called it [Sight seeing]. When he described [Code Breaker], he compared it to the title of a book, a book which contained numerous chapters within. [Sight seeing] was one of these chapters. I myself found myself comparing it more to hacking in modern day Minecraft.

You could call it a hack but there were always more specific terms for a hack. Was it kill-aura, X-raying, fly-hacking, auto-clicker? There were so many types listed under the category of hacking. I found myself agreeing with that comparison more so than Master Garrosh. He did not argue with me as there was no harm in my view of [Code Breaker]. All he really pointed out was that he had one order for me. I was to use [Sight seeing], and I would go to the origins of the stronghold where I would receive my next lesson while he was away.

A lesson from the past?

Deep breaths, the one basic policy that I had been taught because I had no idea if I would be hit with immense pain or a cold shiver. I was breaking my existence down into my own will and the side effects would always be unforeseen. I had yet to experience anything besides a day of shivering. Maybe they would get worse as I progressed onto the more complex abilities of Code Breaker.

What was funny about [Code Breaker] was that it wasn't really a specified power, was it? Not even all these sub-titles such as [Sight seeing] were considered a definite power. The abilities which could be forged were created through the ideas of the mind, and therefore what you could accomplish would also be held to the limitations of the human mind. That's what was scary. Herzchvrine was insane. His mind no longer followed the mindset of a normal person. It was radically different and that meant what he could do was also bounded differently by the laws of his inverted thought process.

[Sight-Seeing] was simple. I had to picture the world around me as it was. I did so, imaging the soft grass below me first, and then came the lush trees and hedges that made up the garden. The manor took shape in the background and the fields around us were soon added in. I pictured the small clock that hung in the blue painted room with three rooms that I had lodged in this past year. Below it would be a small calendar with the exact date of today.

 _Like a daydream, I imagined the pages of the calendar reappearing, the clock above it spiraling almost out of control counter-clockwise. Then, I simply let go of the controls and the rest was done for me. Slowly, I opened my eyes and watched the bushes and trees around me shrink into their younger forms. The sun and moon flashed across the sky like a club party in a Saturday night. Then, the manor itself seemed to disassemble itself. Firs the roof began to form dots of holes in the tile where the original constructors had placed the final blocks in last. I watched the house stripped all the way down to the base, the workers blurs across my vision until all that was left was a wooden frame. Yet I did not stop the clock there._

 _The clearing began to sprout up trees and I could make out the blurs of lumberjacks and several timber huts that we emplaced to take down the trees. Skip a few more hundred years and the entire field was a spanning forest of oak and birch trees. It was here that I finally stopped the clock._

 _I glanced down at my hands and found that I could see straight through them, as well as a slight tint of blue lining the outlines of my body. It reminded me of the [Glow Effect] which being hit by a [Spectral Arrow] would give off._

 _I was not actually in the past. Only my conscious was. I could not affect or change anything theoretically and neither could people detect my observations. My conscious wasn't even really in the past at all. I was merely in a recreation of it within my own conscious._

 _I pictured myself standing at the entrance of the iron mine, and the world around me began to distort. The world blurred into something else, the colors shifting as if paint was being mixed into a pallet until it soon became more distinct. What I saw gave me a short shock._

 _There was no iron mine, nor was there even a forest or grasslands. The dirt had been stripped off the rock and layers upon layer of hardened rock had been removed. I knew all too well of this style of quarry mining._

 _In the center of the base of the dig out sat a pyramid of pure [Iron blocks] perched in the center was a bright blue block with an obsidian frame holding the bottom to the glass and inner [Nether Star] inside. There was a beacon of light blasting off into the sky, one of pure white and energy. I knew already of the properties a [Beacon] which was properly set up could give. The effects on those working below showed just as much._

 _A moment later and I was down at the base, watching what I knew as the previous Guardians before me, likely also people who had been dragged into this world before me and also just as likely long dead. Their mining speed was greatly increased, an effect given off by the beacon known as [Haste]. I had no doubt that, being a tier four beacon, it was likely set to operate at giving off [Haste II]._

 _Thought that was not all that they were doing. They weren't mining to collect raw materials. They were building down here. I watched as another set of players wrought forth their powers and layers a region of stone bricks. I had not explored the entire stronghold before Herzchvrine had confronted me. From the looks of it, there had been a massive room built directly at the bottom. What it could've possibly have been used for, I did not know. What I did know was that this stronghold had been built by players._

 _Players… that's what we guardians are, aren't we? Players of Minecraft?_

 _The issue was that in-game these strongholds were already there long before we find them. There was never any lore released to us about their origins except for the fact that there's supposed to be a portal to the [End Dimension] contained within. This one was built by players, but that did not explain how they constructed the portal itself._

 _What was also different was that they had felt the need to remove the entire region above the planned underground build. This world did not follow the rules of the game. The trees actually falling was a pointer to that. I had no idea why they did not just use support beams before constructing the actual structure, but I was sure they had their reasons._

 _I continued to watch as they tore away at the ground, making way for those who quickly erected the walls and floors of the room. They did so with such precision that realized I had forgotten what it felt like to truly build something. I began to silently yearn for to build, to create something magnificent again like I used to do. There was also something sloppy about the way they worked. Every once in a while, I would see them miss an area they were meant to layer. They did not bother to go back and fix it. It almost felt like they were rushing to complete the project._

 _The dark clouds above them had rolled in without me noticing, but the small splotches of rain that appeared at my feet brought it to my attention. It was getting dreary here. It felt depressing and unforgiving, much like the land outside the bounds of a village or city was._

 _The current builders were working on setting up the outer layer of a hallway. Peering through the hall, I found an already completed intersection and set of corridors leading further into the ground. Thought it was no architectural marvel, I found myself admiring the blacks of [Stone Bricks] which were layered down. Down to the molecule when they were planted, they were likely perfect carbon copies. The [Redstone Lamps] being installed by a pair of players caught my eye faster than any other._

 _That meant for one that [Glowstone] existed, also putting forth that the [Nether Dimension] also lied behind the portal of an obsidian frame. It also pointed to the existence of [Redstone Dust]. The item that revolutionized the game itself into autonomy, advanced red-circuitry, and mind numbing creations existed. I had feared that I would be limited in what I could do because of the lack of materials existing. [Redstone Dust] did not exist in the real world and neither did [Glowstone]. Good thing it did here._

 _The lights lit the corridors well enough, the only real power source needed to activate them being a single Redstone pulse. Further down I could make out a door of solid iron which was currently unlocked and wide open. I could see a bright light within, this one not as dim as the lamps. The glow from the source seemed almost ethereal._

 _A quick thought and I was at the doorway, the distance crossed instantly. I pushed through the doorway and found a man standing before an [Enchantment Table]. That was the issue though, an [Enchantment Table] was not supposed to glow. Yet this one did, and the blue aura emanating from the obsidian table lined with diamonds and leather had a book resting atop that seemed ready to implode at any moment to create a super nova. The man was standing there facing the direction of the door as if he were waiting for someone._

 _He was waiting for someone like me._

 _He wore a green uniform, one almost as stylish as Master Garrosh's. I wondered for a moment whether or not Master Garrosh once knew this man. It was sad for me to say, but I knew all of these players or otherwise known as Guardians perished long ago. Except that must've been thousands of years ago, and Master Garrosh was only around his sixties. I could not make out the features of his face very clearly but maybe that was because of my inexperience with [Sight seeing]. I did not need to see his face though. I only needed to hear him._

 _In his hands, he held a small packet of papers. Glancing over it, I could make out parts of the long text that filled the lines from top to bottom. It was a script, a written script of what he was supposed to say. He was not reading it to his friends or comrades, he was reading it to people who would use [Sight seeing]. Master Garrosh must've done the same as me and traveled here at some point._

 _"_ _[Code Breaker] is known to be the most useful… and the most destructive tool we Guardian's have at our disposal," the man stated, it felt like he had done this hundreds of times. Likely he had spoken to dozens, maybe even hundreds of others concerning this lesson. "What we have learnt from its possibilities are that they are endless, limited by only our own mind. That does not mean we ever got closer to figuring out the origins behind [Code Breaker]"_

 _The man flipped the page around, seeming confused for a moment before pulling it back to the top._

 _"_ _Eh… this is supposed to be classified," he muttered before scratching his head. Was this a new version of the script? "Ahem, as far as the history of players goes, we do not really know when the first of us appeared. Most evidence points to the fact that this process of forced reincarnation occurred for nearly thousands of years before our own generation, but that people were pulled from a range of around a five year period. We are sure that as time continues, that range will grow as the game itself ages. Our older generations were, according to ancient texts, unfamiliar with some of the newer items we had access to, items such as the shield being unfamiliar to them."_

 _Page flip…_

 _"_ _What we identify as the Age of Breaking was when the seventh generation before our own first discovered [Code Breaker]. We don't know how they happened upon this discovery, but we know that it propelled them into great power and positions. We also know that ten years later there was a momentary shift in demeanor and they attempted to halt of research and uses of such power. An unconfirmed amount of time later and Herzchvrine appeared, wiping out the first generation of [Code Breakers]."_

 _I gulped. He had taken down an entire group of people who spent their entire lives revolved around [Code Breaker]. It did not bode well for my chances against him._

 _"_ _The second generation of the Age of Breaking appeared and Herzchvrine was said to not have touched them for the first twenty years or so. It was that time that they investigated the ruins of the first generation and promptly learnt of their doom as well as their own. No further record was found, and all scholars have all agreed Herzchvrine wiped them all out. We see a continuous repetition of this process until we get to our generation and here where I stand before you." He preached, slapping the paper down onto the desk. "Fuck this script."_

 _I watched the man plant his hands at the edge of the table and drag everything that lay upon it over the edge in rage. His roar of frustration was evident enough as the papers, small baskets, and files were thrown all over._

 _"_ _Three days ago," the man spat. "That was when Herzchvrine came after us and now we put our hopes in some bunker."_

 _This man knew he was going to die. I pitied him. I also pitied myself, for I knew I would likely die when I faced the demon himself. I thought the son of the devil himself to be a fool, letting me train and prepare myself for so long. Yet, maybe there really was a base behind his hubris. He wiped out entire generations before me. I could only assume he would have no issue with me. What could Master Garrosh possibly think I could do?_

 _"_ _Bake thinks that he and his team have found a… way to beat Herzchvrine," the man grunted as he fell into his chair. "That there is something that we have never tried before when going up against the demon of [Code Breaker]. He thinks there's a way to strike not the demon, but his power as a player."_

 _What?_

 _"_ _We found very little scraps of notes from the first generation of the Age of Breaking, but we found them. They attempted to… alter something new in [Code Breaker] and it apparently felt like something lashed back at them, something alive." I watched him slip out a rather large bottle that was already uncorked. He brought the glass bottle to his mouth and took a long swig. When he finished, he swept the alcohol off his mouth with a loud gasp before continuing. "And we all know that if it's alive-_

"Tush!" I heard Delilah call and I was brought back into the realm of reality. The underground bunker washed away like water does to mud on a wall and the garden was now my setting. Thought the man had been cut off, I already knew what he was going to say.

"It can be killed…" I breathed, finishing his final statement. The next thing I knew, Delilah was in front of me with a bright smile on her face.

The brown haired girl was still in the small blue dress her mother so loved to force her into, but that wouldn't deter the girl from being as adventurous as she so desired. Two small hands glomped down on my shoulders and she began to shake me.

"Tush, can you keep a secret for me?!" she practically shrieked in excitement.

"Yes, yes!" I gasped as my vision began to spin. I pushed the revelations out my mind for now and decided it could wait for Delilah and whatever she had to say. "But before that, aren't you supposed to be in your lessons?!"

The girl pulled away from me, puffed out her cheeks and turned away. I heard a high pitched _hmph_ from the child. I let my head tilt to the side and glanced closer. The girl's face visibly strained in response.

"You hid from Cecily when she came to fetch you again," I guessed. When Delilah did not respond, I promptly reached out and prodded the side of her face with a finger. "You did, didn't you…?"

"It's not like I'm taught anything useful…" she mumbled, more to herself than me. I grinned devilish at her response. You could call me a bad influence on her. "Besides that! Come on! I've got something to show you!"

She grabbed my hand and, despite being now a three inches smaller than me, yanked me up from the ground. Such a strong eleven year old girl she was. Her grip on my wrist remained as she led me like a dying dog through the gardens towards the southern border. I could make out the small fortification of the brick wall that acted as the perimeter.

We pushed through bushes and trees all the way there, so many that I worried that Delilah would ruin her dress. She of course cared little for that as we finally reached an odd little patch of foliage in a little clearing at the corner of the wall. Unsure of what to do, I merely watched as the energetic girl bounded over and began to shovel her hand deeper beneath one of the edges of the foliage pile.

A moment later and she threw the entire patch aside, revealing the patch of vegetation to be mere large branches and leaves strewn to a wooden board. Underneath was a rather dark and large looking hole. Glancing in, you couldn't really see anything through the darkness. It looked like it went deep, and the fit was tight for an adult. Me still being an eleven year old, same going for Delilah, we would have no trouble. I worried momentarily that we probably shouldn't go down there. I was not in the mood to come into contact with an angry troll or something.

"Come on!" Delilah more so dove than stepped into the hole before I could respond. Sucking up a breath, I followed after her, hoping to not lose her in the darkness.

The darkness was not actually much of a hindrance. The small tunnel was winded and curved, but it only lead one way. I needed to only run my hand along the wall to know where to keep walking. The bottom was unnaturally flattened out so I did not trip over on anything. The smell was of course, of dirt and also had a hint of humidity within the air.

When I finally noticed a soft light at the end of the tunnel, I began to also notice the shape of Delilah. She had reached the end much faster than I had, the end being a large cavernous room. She stood there, grinning goofily as I walked in and gawked.

There in the center, sat a perfect crystal. What it was made of, I did not know. It glowed similar to how I would expect [Glowtsone] to do. The crystal could've easily have been fifteen feet high, six feet in diameter, and also worth a fortune. I had never seen anything like it. Being the only source of light, it bathed the entire room with its soft aura.

Looking around, I also found numerous objects which were not naturally formed. There was a small desk here, a chair there. I even found some dolls in the corner lying atop of a blanket.

"Do you like it?" Delilah asked, knocking me from my stupor. I glanced at the girl who now had her hands behind her back and was leaned forwards expectantly for my answer. I smirked and nodded silently. It truly was amazing. I never would've expected this to be under the house. Did Master Garrosh know of it?

"You come here often?" I asked, walked forwards and peering into the large crystal. I found a distorted reflection of myself overlapped with images of the area around me across the edges of the crystal base.

"Yeah!" she giggled to herself before rushing to my side. I saw her expression go grim as she peered into my eyes. "This is _our_ secret! Okay? You tell no one!"

"Got it, princess," I assured her. I found a small wooden chair, one Delilah had likely stolen from the house and carried all the way here for herself, and sat down on it and got a nice seating towards the center attraction of the theme park.

It was peaceful here, much like when Master Garrosh and I traveled around between Korcha. The landscape was already so pretty in the mornings compared to what I had lived in before arriving in these lands. It was similar but also different because here, I felt like I could hide away from all my troubles and enjoy myself.

I wondered silently what life would've been like without Herzchvrine looming in the shadows, watching me run on borrowed time so he could enjoy tearing me apart later. How long later, I did not know.

Would I have been able to go out in to the world by then? Would I have maybe started living a life of a player who would build a house, gather resources, mine for hours, and adventure around the lands? Would I have perished in a matter of days, unaware of the dangers of the actual world? I shivered at the idea of the unknown, at what could've been changed. I did not wish to know yet at the same time was dying to know.

I felt like I did not need to worry about any of that here. It was just me and Delilah here.

"Does anyone else know about this?" I asked softly from my chair. Delilah wasn't currently standing or sitting in my field of vision as I stared aimlessly into the crystal, but I heard her voice clear enough.

"No."

"Not even Williston? You two seem very close," I mused. A moment later and I heard her footsteps to my left.

"Of course we do, father and Lord Mulwacht wishes for us to… marry at some point," Delilah replied. I processed those words and didn't think much of it besides Williston better take good care of her. I could smash skulls faster than he could swing his pretty sword. Other than that, I really didn't care much for who she married in the future.

"That's cool…"

…

Delilah was suddenly in front of me, a soft growl escaping her lips. Was she… mad? A little girl, despite me being the same age, was growling at me?

"And what are you thinking about? You seem so… lost in thought," she said, her way of talking a decade more mature than the way she usually spoke.

"W-well… I guess my future," I said, hoping she didn't think much of the slight stutter. She stood there, thinking about my response before a frown creased her lips. "What?"

"Do you ever wonder about what might happen when you grow up?" she asked me.

"Not really," I stated. Yet I did, I thought about it all the time. I wondered what life could've been, and I wonder what it will be for me. What could it hold for me, such an anomaly in this world? "Why?"

"Will we still be friends?" she asked sadly. I choked on the air in my lungs before sputtering out a short laugh. I couldn't help myself, wondering if that was why she was so upset. Before she could react, I grabbed her in a friendly hug. "Wha-"

"Of course!" I chuckled loudly, still taking the girl off guard. "We've known each other how long now? Almost since we were newborns! You think a little bit of time is going to take that away?"

The girl whined into my chest as I practically twirled her around in circles in her small dress, still laughing to myself. It was sad but, Delilah was my only friend in this world, wasn't she…

"Okay! Okay!" she shrieked. I dropped her and she gave me an irritated glare. I was unashamed of a mere sign of affection so I merely gave her a cocky grin.

"As Captain America once said," I stated with a dramatic pose, hands resting on my hips. "I'm with you to the end of the line."

"Captain America? Is he a noble knight?"

"Oh well… I guess he is," I replied, unsure of how to explain the existence of a fictional character.

"What's he like?"

"Well… he doesn't like cursing I guess?" Movie reference of the century, right boys?

* * *

 **AN:** Basically there's more to Code Breaker than a simple ability. Also Tusk ought to open his damn eyes. Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8: Greetings Broken Child

**AN:** **I have been playing around with several modpacks, memorizing how to use them and other aspects of Vanilla Minecraft. Safe to say that my current favorite mod is either Mekanism with its mass complexity, or Tinkers with the twist on equipment and tools.**

 **My goal this chapter was to set up some more of the long term plot and character development rather then only focusing on Tusk's abilities as a Minecraft Player.**

 **I don't own anything except original characters, and I do hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"The bandits have taken a girl hostage and ridden into the forest," one of the nearby horsemen informed Lord Corchet. The tall armored man ran his fingers along his short beard while rearing his horse towards the rest of his hunting party.

This had been the first time I had really been in his presence for a long period of time. Normally, he was always busy and off fulfilling his duties as a Northern Lord of the Alkaline kingdoms. He bore a brownish red hair in contrast to Delilah and Lady Corchet's dark brown and silky hair color and texture. He was of course, stuck up like one would expect a noble to be. He was stubborn, hard headed, and impatient. That didn't block out the hard cold facts that he was strong and intelligent. He was cunning and smart, and an excellent military leader. As it turns, he had operated as a general for King Hudner during the Archaic Wars which had ended over twenty years ago. His success in the campaign led him to become one of the most prominent lords in the region.

Our hunting party included Master Garrosh, a close advisor who I had yet to memorize the name of, two West Lancers who the Lord was especially close with as friends outside of the bounds of the social ladder, and me.

He had just returned from visiting the eastern Mountain Lords and felt a desire to enjoy the rest of the day hunting wild boar. Unfortunately, there were not many guards who could accompany him. He had found the two lancers riding by and recognized them as old friends. In reality, they were more his buddies today instead of his temporary guard. Despite having two already, Lady Corchet had urged him to bring more. With no one else, he requested Master Garrosh to accompany him. This resulted in my presence becoming required due to my apprenticeship with the Swords Master.

There was large plains field just south of the Loch Forest. Wild boar and even deer were a common sight in the area. What started out as a boring ride, listening to the older men laugh and holler at the more obnoxious conversations a Lord should avoid, soon turned into a troubling problem.

A pack of bandits had been spotted, as informed two scouts under the Corchet banner that had spotted us. They rode down from the hillside to join us and quickly informed the Lord of the situation. A small pack of bandits on horseback had ridden into the territory, raiding several family homes on the countryside and burning down the houses with the families inside. It also became apparent that they had kidnapped a young girl.

At hearing this, Master Garrosh and I eyed each other. We both had a mutual understanding that we would get no excitement from staring at the asses of the men before us.

"Milord, may I offer my services in pursuing these bandits?" my master inquired. The lord glanced at the man and frowned. His dark expression was more geared towards me, as he caught the hidden meaning behind his request. If Master Garrosh went, then I would go as well.

"Your apprentice… do you feel he is ready?" he asked, watching me for any change in expression. I had long since mastered the ability to maintain a stoic expression and returned his gaze without any trouble.

"More than ready, milord. By your word, we will set out at the moment."

"Then do so with caution. I would hate to lose the Master Swordsman within my own territory, and I am sure my daughter would be devastated. We will route to the west of Loch Forest. If you can push them from the east towards us, then we may lay waste to the small group." Lord Corchet grunted. I watched the man pull a silver helmet over his head before calling to the scouts and lancers with him. Soon, they rode quickly to the west while leaving only me and my master.

"We must hurry, lad," Garrosh stated, motioning for me to follow. My response was a quick nod before I had my horse ride forth alongside Master Garrosh

Riding a horse was quite unusual for those like me. I did not expect it to be so similar to Minecraft in the aspect that I could access the horse's inventory and equip the saddle and armor slots with suitable gear. Then there was the riding part. Until today, I had never actually touched a horse in my life. The reason to do so never really came up before then. Instead, when I mounted, I could feel this slight buzz in the back of my head. I was connected to the horse and I could command it with so much as a single thought, much like how you would control the horse from behind the monitor with nothing but a single pressing of a button. I did not need to beckon the animal, nor did I need to use the reigns. All I merely did was hold on and _thought_. The same likely went for Master Garrosh.

I could not command it in very specific ways. For example, I could not force the horse to maybe lift its left hoof or glance to the right. I could however give the basic command to go left or right. I could regulate how fast the horse galloped and then command it to stop. So all I had to do was to tell the horse to follow Master Garrosh and his steed, and it would do so.

We rode quickly towards the east side of Loch Forest before cutting across a small hill and into a small pathway which appeared to have been forged through years of animal herds traversing the terrain. By that time, the sun was setting and the winter cold was nearly unbearable in my flimsy leather tunic, but that did not halt me.

We rode fast and hard, the beating of the hooves hard against the dirt and the steady rhythm of the horses jerking underneath us both kept in sync with our heart beats as we finally caught sight of a group on horseback. The trees were a blur, but our horses were trusty enough to collide into any. They were bred to be fast, and trained since birth to exceed the speed of most other mounts. It was no surprise that we had caught up so quickly to the bandits who rode upon horses likely half starved to death.

"We route them west, correct?" I called over to Master Garrosh. He did not look to me, but his eyes intently remained on the blur of a terrain below us and the riders ahead. I could already hear their yells of alarm as we slowly gained upon them.

" _Pha!_ We take them out here and now, lad! To arms!" Master Garrosh spat, a familiar hint of excitement and bloodlust in his old voice. I shook my head, but couldn't help but grin myself as we both quickly switched into our iron equipment in a quick flash of blue light. [Leather Tunics] were switched with [Iron Chainmail], our [Dirty Road Leathers] replaced with [Forged Iron Leggings], and our [Old Boots] swapped with iron plated [Hard Strewn Leather Boots]. The bandits ahead were in too much of a panic to really notice the supernatural power we possessed going into use. Finally, we would get our entertainment

Releasing my legs from the straps of the saddles, I leapt up onto the back of my horse effortlessly. My mount did not waver as I rode his back in the fashion of a surf board. I balanced myself perfectly, shifting weights on my legs in sync with the giant gallops of the beast I rode upon. While one hand remained outstretched forwards to maintain balance, I brought my other hand back and mentally put one of the many weapons I kept hidden away within my inventory.

With the spear in hand I drew back, sucked in a loud breath, and slung to spear forwards with a shift of my body and a strong push of my arm. The spear flew through the air in a perfect arc, spiraling in the way of a football in America.

I watched the projectile strike the rider in near the rear in his lower neck. The spear forked him into his horse which screamed loudly before its legs hit a large branch. The bandit was thrown into the air while the horse flipped over onto its face.

"Shit!" I heard one of them yell, and we were right upon them. A bow appeared in the hands of the Swords Master to my right as he took the bowstring back and drew. The arrow warped into existence in between his notched fingers before he let it fly.

 _Thunk!_

Another screamed in agony as right ribcage was struck, but it would not matter. I followed up with a steel blade in my hands and pierced his side as I pressured the group on the left.

Four riders remained and they knew they were not facing any regular adversaries. We did not give them the chance to really understand that they needed to fight. Kicking out, I shoved the now deceased corpse on my right off and the body tumbled to the blurred ground, disappearing quickly into the distance behind us. All four wielded rusted short swords which they had drawn the moment they'd noticed us. It was now that they finally decided to use them.

One of them reared his horse to the right, angling himself to get a better position on Master Garrosh. His blade was met with another, one that the bandit could not remember being in the old man's hands in the first place yet. The bow had disappeared to. The sound of metal meeting metal echoed throughout the forest but died out under the beating of the hooves underneath us. They dueled viciously at each other's throats, each seeking another opening. Two others broke off to intercept me while the lead rider continued on his course.

I brought forth a wire hook from my inventory, a long steel cable with a jagged metal on one end and a thick hook on the other. Swinging it into the air, I whipped the jagged end around the closest rider before he could react. The metal wire wrapped around his throat, locking into pace as the metal points hooked into his throat. He screamed in shock and began to trash at the weight now tugging him backwards. Taking the other end and the metal curved blade linked to it, I held it out and let the bladed tip hook a nearby tree. The bandit, still grasping at his throat, was yanked from his horse with a sickening crack that made it known that his neck was no longer in proper attachment.

The next rider slashed at my arm, an attack which missed dreadfully when my horse jerked away slightly at my beckoning. I reached into the satchel at my side and flung out its contents. The white powder peppered the man's face and he inhaled a rather large amount in his shock. The powder immediately burned his lungs and he was blinded. Taking the chance, I took a small knife out of inventory and leapt off my horse.

Landing on the man and his mount, my blade dug into his throat as he screamed and gurgled. With another twist of the hilt, the man went still and I threw him off of his horse. The small blade disappeared as it was removed from my hot bar, the blood that used to coat it dropping to the ground with no metal to hang onto.

Master Garrosh ended his fight with a final thrust which his opponent was not ready for. The blade impaled the man through the chest. Knowing the sword was not very important and that he had many more still in his internal inventory, he let go so that the man could tumble off the side and onto the dirt ground.

 _And then there was one…_

"He's got a captive," Master Garrosh warned me. I eyed the large human shaped bundle that was strapped to the side of the horse. I could see a pair of feet hanging out of one end, and the stillness made me wonder if she was already dead. The bandit was a tall but scrawny man in tanned leather hides. He had a fur jacket that had been ripped in several places showing that he had worn that same article of clothing in numerous fights.

"Then we just need to be _a bit_ more cautious, eh?" I stated loudly before bringing forth a small iron hatchet.

My left hand gripping onto the reigns tightly, I leaned over the side of the saddle so I was hanging off and closer to the floor. I pointed my bent my arm and launched the hatchet in a spinning motion forwards. My apologies to the horse, but I valued the girl's life more than its own. The hatchet clipped the horse in its lower leg and it instantly tumbled over. The small bundle of a girl rolled into the ground silently while the man tumbled over and fell flat onto his back. Master Garrosh rode right by, spearing his head with a pike and dragging the man off a few more feat before he slowed down to dump the limp body.

"Damn it, Tusk! I swear if you just killed that girl!" Master Garrosh growled rearing his horse back.

"Relax!" I called back while dismounting the horse. My boots hit the ground with a metallic thud before I quickly rushed over to the motionless girl. I took a small blade and sliced away the bindings around the large cloth that wrapped her body. When I was finally able to undo it, my eyes were met with another pair of dark grey. For a moment, I actually thought she was deceased. It wasn't until I saw that her chest was still moving that I realized she was alive. Her eyes examined me without much change in her stoic expression. No stoic wasn't the right word, lifeless. She looked earnestly dead on the inside.

She was young, almost as young as me and her hair was pitch black. I found myself comparing her hair to a shadow. She was small and looked underfed. I had no idea how long she had been with those bandits, but she was finally free from them. What still concerned me was her lack of… response. Was she in shock? She laid there in the unwrapped cloth while silently staring at me for a good while.

"My name is Tusk Rayon, apprentice of Master Swordsman Garrosh and currently acting under the Corchet banner. We've come to… rescue you I suppose," I said, growing slightly nervous under her expressionless gaze. She blinked and then slowly she nodded. An acknowledgement… that was a start.

"Ha, looks like you didn't end up killing her!" Master Garrosh spat as he finally reached us, dismounted, and joined my side. His expression dropped at the sight of the girl. He could tell something was off. I lowered myself to meet her gaze and spoke softly.

"Do you know where your family is? We can ta-

I felt a hand grab my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Master Garrosh shaking his head with a grim and dark expression. He was trying to tell me something, but I did not understand. Had he noticed something I had not? I was confused for a moment. I did not understand the silent message. It took a few seconds longer before I got it.

- _raiding several family homes on the countryside and burning down the homes with the families inside-_

"Oh…" I said. Master Garrosh nodded sadly, relaxing his grip on me. That's why she did not speak. Slowly, I turned back to the girl, this silent and emotionless girl, and held out my hand to her. "Come on, let's get you out of here…"

The black haired girl stared at my open fingers, contemplated many things which I dared not ask about. When she did come to decision, she placed her soft delicate hands into mine and allowed me to pull her off the ground and lead her to one of the nearby horses that had escaped the previous fight unscathed.

An hour later, Master Garrosh and I exited to forest where Lord Corchet and his party were waiting for us, the shivering girl's arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

/-/

"You really did singlehandedly take on a bandit gang by yourself," Williston mused. I raised an eyebrow at his comment while shuffling the cards around in my hands. We sat in one of the smaller rooms of the manor near the eastern wing. There were several small tables and cabinets set underneath the three windows on the left wall of the room. You could see a few of Delilah's old dolls she hadn't touched in a few years resting upon one of the cabinets in the corner and a few of Bachten's books could were still laid upon another small table with recently applied bookmarks hanging out from the side. This room had become more of a haunt for the children who resided within the manor.

"I did not _singlehandedly_ take on a bandit gang. I was accompanied by Master Garrosh himself," I grunted in response. I split the deck into two piles before setting them into several neat rows.

"Ah, I suppose one more person makes such a big difference."

"It does when that one extra person is the world's best swordsman known to the realm," I retorted, finishing setting the cards into their positions before handing a five card deck over to Williston. He took them and gently placed them face down. "You give me too much credit."

"And you give yourself too little," the son of a noble replied before flipping one of his cards first card over, revealing an ace of hearts. "Your move."

Gently, I slid my hand over each hidden card, watching them conveniently appear in my hot bar momentarily before grinning slightly to myself. Flipping over the fifth card, I revealed the ace of spades. Williston sucked in an exasperated breath before handing his ace over to me. "I do swear that you've found a way to cheat this game."

"Oh, I have no idea what you could be talking about," I replied with a childishly innocent smile, taking the card and placing it atop the deck on my left. Williston watched me straighten my cards out quickly before he spoke once more.

"What do you think of the girl," he asked curiously. I was not caught off guard by the question. Most people in the manor were thinking about her and the situation she was in.

"I think she's got a tough life ahead of her," was my response. "The world isn't kind to people without families. Even then, we can't track down any distant relatives because she refuses to talk. They're still picking through the ashes of her home for the bodies and maybe some hint to where they might find someone to take her in."

"She's that damaged, huh?"

"Hell, she looked brain dead when I found her." I spat while shaking my head. Williston made a move to flip over another card before we both heard the click of the door handle being turned. We watched the white painted wooden door slowly slide open by the hands of a small scrawny maid to let Delilah in. We watched her lead everyone's favorite topic into the room gently by the hand, followed by Bachten.

"Speak of the devil-," Williston mumbled only loud enough for me to hear.

"-and he shall appear…" I quietly finished for him while watching Delilah bring the black haired girl over to one side of the room. Bachten silently found his way over to where his books were resting and began to flip through the pages. Williston and I both watched Delilah talk to the girl, most likely just friendly conversation. Unfortunately, it was completely one sided. The girl sat there, nodding every once in a while and even more rarely making a small sound in response to certain things. Yet she never said anything that could count as a word.

"Don't know what I would do if I lost everything just like that. Guess it's to be expected that some people end up like that," Williston whispered. I nodded in agreement before realizing that the room had gone deathly quiet without our normal conversations. Deciding to make the aura less awkward, I began to rummage for a different topic.

"I heard that your father was going to summon me tomorrow in private?" Williston glance up in surprise. "Well I just heard from some gossip. It's probably false more than anything"

"No, I'm sure that he might. He has actually been meaning to talk to you for quite some time, but never had the chance," Williston assured me. I watched the boy scratch the side of his head in thought before shrugging. "Though I'm not sure why. I assume that he either wants to voice any concerns with your apprenticeship to Master Garrosh, or… the new opportunities in Asramore that might interest you."

"Opportunities in Asramore, you say?" I mused, his second guess piquing my interest ever so slightly.

"Apparently, there was an elite group of Arcadian Peacekeepers who were charged with keeping stability within the Alkali regions. At some point, they all perished in combat. The officials won't really say when this happened, but they called this force the… Guardians? It's so strange, I've never heard of such a fighting force before," he said before frowning. "You wouldn't happen to know of these Guardians, would you?"

Arcadian Peacekeeper forces originated of a sort of center power system known as the Arcadian Council. After the end of the Archaic Wars, no kingdom, big or small, wished for another war. Economies were ruined, lives were lost by the millions, and entire royal family bloodlines were lost in conflict. At some point, despite the bad blood, representatives got together and agreed that they needed a central power to keep everyone in line, one where each power could keep the others in line never gaining or losing representation.

The main council, being based in the city of Asramore which could be found in the center mass of the continent, had become one of the most diverse populations ever seen amongst the lands. People of all sorts of cultures could thrive amongst each other while knowing that violence against one another would not be tolerated. Was there discrimination against others? It would be naïve to say no. There would always be those who held ill will towards what was unlike them. Despite that, the city grew faster than any other city had done so before. Job opportunities were plentiful, the crime rate was relatively safe despite the influx of immigrants, and the ruling council was backed by over nearly fifty-four different powers, the main four being Alkaline, Alkali, Lanthanide and Actinide kingdoms.

It was surprising, the amount of smaller powers that existed. Despite being a colossal landmass, almost rivaling the idea of a super continent, four main powers had control over the majority of the land. Most of these smaller powers were barely visible on the map, some even being under direct control of one of the four main powers.

"N-no, actually I've never heard of such people. I would think that if they were so elite that they would be more prominently known, Alkali being directly south of the Alkaline Kingdom." I cursed myself for stuttering the lie, but Williston did not catch my slip. "You are sure that they were called Guardians?"

"From what I've heard, yes. Wardens of the lands, protectors of the people," Williston whistled. Guardians… that meant players. Players like me, like Master Garrosh. Had Garrosh and his generation operated under Arcadian rule? He never mentioned anything of the sort. From what he did tell me, it sounded more like the Guardians were a freelancer force who operated within their own moral code of justice. I would have to ask him about it later.

"So how does this create these so called… opportunities?" I questioned, bringing the noble boy back on track.

"Ah yes, well apparently there has been a bit of a lacking in the Peacekeeper manpower. From the propaganda posters they set out all over the region, they're now recruiting for the next Guardian forces and not just to fill in the vacant ranks. They're going to be enlisting for the next five years to expand their control over the rest of the entire continent."

"And martyring the previous Guardians?" I accused. Williston brought his hands up defensively.

"Don't shoot the messenger," he said before finally lowering them. "Though it's not really that bad of an idea. They need the new troops. The Alkali regions have apparently been growing more restless, and now I understand why. With the lack of such a military force, turmoil is bound to stir."

"So they're just taking anyone?"

"Ha! Anyone around the age of sixteen can enlist for training. A lot of common folk see it as a way to elevate their status, but there's just one issue…"

"Its suicide," Bachten suddenly jumped in from his readings. He hadn't looked up, but instead turned the page as he spoke. This was by far, the longest I had ever heard the bookworm speak. Most of what he said consisted one word phrases, just barely more sociable then the orphaned girl in the room with us. "Anyone with half the brain of an average man should be able to tell that enlisting was equivalent to signing a death warrant."

"Yes, thank you. Well there have been… a few leaks as to why the original Guardian's were wiped out. Most consist of them being sent on a suicide mission against some… powerful enemy. Whatever it was, the Arcadian Council really wanted to keep that quiet," Williston finished with a wave of his hand. "Then again, the force was made for a good cause. Keeping peace and order is one of the best goals to have right now."

"Kill bandits," a small peaceful voice said. Williston and I both glanced over to the black haired girl who sat on the floor, eyes drawn to the floor. Delilah was shocked that she had spoken now of all times. "They kill bandits."

Williston visibly gulped, smart enough to realize why she was focused on that specific idea.

"Ah so she does speak," Bachten hummed as he flipped another page without much care.

"Y-yes, I do suppose that one of their objectives would be hunting down bandits," Williston stated. I watched the girl slowly nod her head before going silent and still once more. Delilah doubled her efforts to engage the girl in a conversation, but that one moment was all any of us would get from her for a long time. Williston turned back to me with a grimace.

"Can't help but feel I just convinced someone to enlist," he whispered. I leaned forwards and gazed into his eyes.

"That's because you have, bud."

/-/

"Guardians working under the Arcadian Council?! Ha! I've never heard of anything more ludicrous!" Master Garrosh spat before grabbing another vial and slamming it down roughly onto the table in front of me. We sat in one of the old sheds outside the manor where the previous constructors of the manor had lodged while working.

"I thought that too. Yet from what Williston tells me, they're martyring them. They've formed a new peacekeeper force under the same name. I also think that someone's spreading rumors and stories about the previous Guardians," I informed him while eyeing the glassware. I admired the distorted view on the other side before sitting up straight. "I think they're trying to base this new force off of a fake peacekeeper group."

"Aye, your right. The Guardians never once did anything for the Arcadian Council directly. Though the rumors that we were wiped out by some powerful enemy? That's too accurate to be a coincidence. Someone is basing these peacekeepers off of us, and I've got no idea why." Garrosh grunted, pulling a small cloth out and resting it over the small vial.

"From what I hear, they're actually going to be pretty similar to what you did."

"Peacekeeping? It's in the name, I suppose. If they do what we do, even if a bit toned down and regulated, then I'm fine with it. Maybe there won't be a need for you to take up the mantle when you're ready," he told me quietly.

 _If I last long enough to become ready_ , I thought. I did not voice this, because I knew how he took such negativity towards our success.

"So what's this for?" I asked, motioning towards the glass vial under the small cloth that hid it form view. "Are we getting into brewing?"

"As useful as it may be, no. We're scrapping all physical training, culture lessons, and conventional powers for now and moving on to [Code Breaker] only." Master Garrosh replied. That meant no more swords fighting, or anything related to regular Minecraft.

"Why?"

"You already know why. You felt the chills, no?" Garrosh said, glaring me in the eye. I shivered under his heavy gaze and nodded. While the winter had hit us hard, I would often get an odd feeling of darkness. It was like death was breathing into my ear and it made me tremble despite my incapability to feel fear.

"He's coming soon… isn't he?"

"Soon? He might wait another decade or come tomorrow, being how sporadic he is. That doesn't mean I like to take chances. Your first lesson for today will be one of the most difficult you have ever faced," he stated, pulling out a nearby wooden chair and sitting in it across the table from me. The cloth covered vial sat between us as I listened patiently. "This bottle here? Lift it."

I made a move to grab it, but I was stopped by an annoyed growl.

"Without touching it…"

"Pardon?"

"You heard me, now do it," He stated. I left my mouth hanging open slightly in shock. In every lesson I had received before, I had always received pointers. There was always a technique he gave me to use to accomplish anything related to [Code Breaker]. For [Sight Seeing], I had to imagine a clock and I could view the past. Yet for this? I was told to simply do it. There were no tips, no hint, and not a single helping hand to support me. It was like trying to solve a Quadratic Equation without the formula.

"Eh…"

"You're stuck, no?" He'd already known I would struggle. "I already know your problem, lad. So let me ask you, what is Minecraft?"

"A voxel sandbox game?"

"Then tell me what a sandbox game is," he pressed further persistently. I bit my lower lip and thought.

"A game where the player controls what happens in the world, where there is no real storyline and everything that happens only occurs because you or another player does so. Where you can create what you want, destroy what you want, and do what you want," I answered, almost proud of such a detailed answer.

"Yes, now look at [Code Breaker]. It is no different. You are the master," he said, getting up from his chair and walking around the table towards me. "What you wish to happen can happen, and what you want to occur can occur. You have the ability to create, destroy, and do anything within [Code Breaker]. Like a sandbox game, there is no guideline, only imagination and freedom. What you want to happen-

I watched him thrust one of his hands forwards towards the bottle. Just like that, the bottle began to rise, the cloth draped over it slightly sliding off. It did not shake or wobble. It just perfectly rose off the table as if it were being raised by an invisible flat plain.

"-can be ordered to happen." He dropped his hands and the bottle gently fell back to the table, not even making a sound of impact as it came to a rest. "Now, do it."

I nodded and slowly, I held my hand out to the bottle.

"I don't suppose I really need a hand to do this, do I?" I guessed.

"If it helps form the idea that you can lift objects through channeling power through that hand, sure why not?" Garrosh snorted from the chair he was once again resting in.

So from then, I spent the entire afternoon sitting in the old building, glaring at the bottle under a piece of clothe as I patiently told it to rise in my head. One hour passed without a single success. Master Garrosh sat quietly and patiently as I blew away an entire hour staring at a bottle. The only movement we really did was blink.

After that I tried another approach. I demanded the bottle rise with force and authority during my third hour, forming the mindset that I had complete control over it. I thought that maybe if I believed that it bent to my will and that all things could, then maybe it would do so like a servant. When that too failed to work by the fourth hour, I then tried to coax it like a mother in my head. It was all mental games, but not for the bottle.

By the fifth grueling hour, my hunger bar was nearly at the point that I would need to stop and eat, but I feared for the possibility of losing any progress I might've made. The bottle had to be moved through my own motivation. It was how I perceived the action to occur. I needed to believe that the bottle could rise through my own will no matter what manner I desired it so.

"Well done," Master Garrosh said. I was brought out of my thoughts to see the glass bottle floating ever so slightly off the table by a mere inch or two. It was not comparable to my Master's display, but it was acceptable none the less. Although, I still felt a bit of emptiness at my accomplishment.

"That felt… too easy."

"You're on your fifth hour, lad. You want to call that easy?"

"But… all I did was just…"

"Think? That's how it works. Many of us during my time failed to comprehend this idea, and never could fully master it. It is not hard to really do this, not until you begin to wear down on yourself. I'm just glad that you're not one of those who couldn't even get past this early stage. Feel proud of yourself, lad. You're on your way there."

"I g-guess so," I stuttered, scratching the back of my head nervously at the praise. "Is it time we join the others for dinner?"

Master Garrosh grinned, his older features failing to hide the evil behind it. He stepped forwards, grabbed the floating bottle, and slapped it back down onto the table. This time, he straightened out the cloth so that it was covering the entire bottle perfectly. With a small pat on the shoulder, he took a step back and told me my next objective.

"Now change it into a stick."

/-/

At the end of one month, the quiet girl was now leaving the manor. She could've stayed most of us wanted her to. While she did not socialize with anyone, she did commonly watch Williston spar with Master Garrosh and on the more rare occasions, spar with me. She seemed devoid of purpose and goals, all of those being torn from her with the loss of her family. A few days after being well fed and nursed back to proper health, she had left for a day so that she may witness her families' burial. It was made sure that each body would be hidden away under a cloth so that she may not see the charred remains.

Yet it was obvious that she always had that small spark when she saw us train with the sword. The wielder of a sword was not a soldier, he was an artist. You swung your blade like a painter, every stroke and swipe holding meaning. Williston and I both knew this well enough. Master Garrosh held this belief to the heart. This girl seemed to grasp the idea by merely observing.

Her name was Imyne and not many of us really knew her last name. I was sure someone knew, likely one of the guards her escorted her to the ruins of her old home. I had just yet to ask at this point. Williston was right when he told me he thought he had accidently convinced her to join. When a trader traveling through Korcha came through, she learnt from the talkative maids that he would travel to Asramore soon to sell furs and other such animal parts. It was soon obvious why she wanted to go to Asramore. She desired to enlist as a Guardian Peacekeeper. I personally had no right to stop her, but I did not feel it was right for her to go.

Her motivation was likely based purely on vengeance, despite her lack of emotion. While understandable, her loss being at the hand of bandits themselves, it was never right to breed negative emotions. Anger clouded judgment. Grief weakened the mind. It was one of the benefits of being a player: we did not naturally feel these things.

The day came when the trader stopped by to pick her up that we said our farewells to her. She did not reply, but merely nodded in acknowledgement. The snow fell lightly, but that did not stop the cold. Delilah gave her a quick friendly hug, Bachten said her off with his best wishes, Williston wished her luck on our endeavors, and Lachnet wasn't even present, and I decided I would escort her to the caravan which waited outside the gates.

"Things aren't always what they seem, you know," I mused as I walked by her side. Her hair was cut short around her shoulders, and she had about an inch the past couple of months. She would be taller than me in a few years. Her skin was, surprisingly, without a single blemish. I found myself comparing her to a noblewoman. "You wish to join the Guardians?"

Imyne glanced at me before nodding slowly.

"You have at least… what four years before you are off age to enlist for recruitment training? During that time, watch yourself. Guardians are more than just another peacekeeper force and not everything that goes on is black and white," I advised right before we passed the gate. I examined the man waiting for us, a scrawny fellow with a straw hat over his head and his wife waiting atop the cart. The snowfall was already piling up over the tarp covering the contents and the oxen that were strapped to the front had clouds of white puff spewing out of their nose. It took one more look at Imyne to notice that she was shivering, only wearing a light coat over the thin tunic. Slowly, I took the large fur coat over my own shoulders and wrapped it around her. She accepted it graciously, letting herself smile weakly.

"If you were freezing, you should've asked for something heavier," I muttered before patting her on the shoulder lightly. "Good luck. If you really do become a Guardian, perhaps we may see each other again at some point."

It was unlikely, but I felt that telling her that might lighten her mood. I turned on my heel and made to return back to the manor before a tug on my sleeve stopped me. Glancing back, I saw a small hand gripping left arm of my leather tunic.

"Thank you," she said softly, her voice barely audible. I put a hand over hers and squeezed reassuringly.

"Least I can do, now get going. You have a long ride ahead of you."

* * *

 **AN:** Introducing Imyne, who becomes important later on in the story. I also wanted to show the bantering relationship between Williston and Tusk. So then what about Cecily? She's not really that important to the plot, so you won't really see much of her. I hoped that I could create an impending sense of doom, one that makes it feel like Tusk knows he will die soon despite what Garrosh tells him.

Do you think Tusk will survive?

See you all next chapter...


End file.
